Re: Help: rear view mirror optics (fwd)

[KATHY DANIEL <danielka@BELLSOUTH.NET>]

As I understand it, and according to Hewitt, the major reflection in the daytime
is from the back surface of the mirror.  At night when the mirror is tilted, the
back surface reflection goes over the driver's head and the driver sees the
secondary reflection of the lights behind him/her from the front surface of the
glass wedge.  This make a nice test question, complete with diagram for my
reflection unit.

Kathy Daniel
Oakland High School
Murfreesboro, TN  37130

"Daniel L. MacIsaac" wrote:

> ...I frequently get odd requests from web-surfers who stumble across PHYS-L
> and its archives.  Yesterday I got a request from a surfer who was looking for
> a nice explanation of the optics of a standard rear-view automobile mirror,
> which when tilted significantly dims the reflected image.
>
> I think I know how the mirror works; I THINK it's a glass wedge and by
> controlling the incident angles one can reflect light multiple times
> within the wedge, attenuating it.  I could easily be very wrong.  But I can't
> find a simple explanation of the design on the web anywheres.  Can anyone
> help steer me to an appropriate online explanation?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Dan M
>
> Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
> danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner