A plane mirror is a mirror with a plane reflective surface.

For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. Thus a collimated beam of lightdoes not spread out after reflection from a plane mirror, except for diffraction effects. A plane mirror makes image of objects in front of it; these images appear to be behind the plane in which the mirror lies. A straight line drawn from part of an object to the corresponding part of its image makes a right angle with, and is bisected by, the surface of the plane mirror. The image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual (meaning that the light rays do not actually come from the image), upright, and of the same shape and size as the object it is reflecting. A virtual image is a copy of an object formed at the location from which the light rays appear to come. However, the image is a laterally-inverted "mirror image" of the object. If a person is reflected in a plane mirror, the image of his right hand appears to be the left hand of the image.

For flat mirrors the Law of Plane Mirrors states that "the image is always the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror." The image, I, and the object, O, always line up along the same normal. The image is upright, but left-right reversed.

Notice that the rays entering the eye are diverged from the mirror's surface. Since the eye has to "dot back" the rays to form an image, this image is virtual - a cool image, trapped within the mirror. Take a moment to examine ademonstration of the formation of the virtual image of a lit candle. As mentioned earlier, the Law of Plane Mirrors states that di = -do. This reflection, like ALL reflections, obeys the Law of Reflection: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Note that these angles are measured from the normal to either the incident or reflected rays.

The following diagram illustrates that the minimum length of a plane mirror required for someone to view their entire image equals half their height. Note that the top of the mirror should be placed at eye level.

The previous diagram also emphasizes the fact that the size of the image equals the size of the object; that is, the magnification of a plane mirror equals one. Recall that magnification is calculated using the formula:

Rough surfaces are defined as those on which successive elevations vary by more than 1/8 th of the incident radiation's wavelength. These surfaces scatter the light and produce what is called a diffuse reflection. Note that all reflections obey the law of reflection, but because of the "tilted" nature of rough surfaces, incident parallel rays are not reflected parallel to each other. Surfaces from which incident parallel rays of light remain parallel after being reflected are called polished surfaces and this type of reflection is called a specular reflection. Surfaces which are smooth for long wavelengths can therefore be rough for shorter wavelengths - hence the use of wire mesh antennas for radio astronomy and polished mirrors for visible astronomy.

When more than one plane mirror is used, multiple images are formed. Take a moment to view the following two demonstrations which show the production of infinite images when two plane mirrors are placed parallel to each other or when three plane mirrors are placed in an equilateral triangle.