• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How do rearview mirrors work?!?!?!?!

arbitrary

arbitrary

Oct 24, 2005
4,175
1,787
Boston, MA
#1
So I've looked at this device for ever, and I can't decide how the hell rear view mirrors work better in the dark when you hit that lever to flip the angle down.
My fiance has asked me several times and I look at it and murmur something about angles and window tintint and just murmer and ramble off.
We both know I have no clue what I'm talking about.
But I still look at this contraption and ponder how it works at night when its pointed at the car floor.

HELP ME!!! :help: :help: :help: :help: :help: :help:


Thanks Again TB
 
#4
It works like this: the mirror flips back at an angle, so it actually shows you a reflection of the ceiling of your car (which looks black, because it's dark out). But the glass in front of the mirror doesn't move. It stays at the same angle as the mirror's normal position. So everything you're seeing in the mirror is really just reflections off the glass. The glass transmits most of the light, and only reflects a small amount of it, so all those bright lights now look comfortably dim.
 
#12
arbitrary said:
I'm still kinda hazy on it, but I'll try to understand it when its not 230 am
Click to expand...

Basically you're just switching between two reflective surfaces. One is glass that reflects dimly (the "night" setting) and the other is a mirror which reflects brightly (the "day" setting).
 
#13
it all comes down to the simple laws of Physics, you got a concave mirror that broadens your view because the incoming light reflects at broader angles, there fore when u tilt you are adding another angle to it giving you a better view
 
#14
Tomass said:
it all comes down to the simple laws of Physics, you got a concave mirror that broadens your view because the incoming light reflects at broader angles, there fore when u tilt you are adding another angle to it giving you a better view
Click to expand...

Huh? :confused:

We're talking about a simple day/night mirror. No physics involved here, just two flat reflective surfaces set at an angle from each other and a switch that allows you to select which surface you're using.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back