The contemplative whiteboard animation titled “Why Do Mirrors Flip Left & Right (but not up & down)?” Published by Minute Physics aims to explain the odd way in which a mirror reflects any image you put in front of it.
“This video is about why words flip left & right (aka horizontally) in a mirror but not up & down (aka vertically). The answer has to do with specular reflection, mirrors being like windows into another world (alternate universes, just within and out flipped!), and transparency of the things we write on,” the video description reads.
As the narrator begins to explain, the answer behind this enigma is that mirrors don’t actually flip the images left and right, just like they don’t flip them up and down. The secret is often in the way in which a certain image (or text) is presented to the mirror. The only thing that flips is the direction into or out of the mirror. This is when things get a bit confusing, so we recommend you watch the video below to solve this mystery.
