[neilep (OP)]

Dear Mirrorologists,


As a sheepy I of course spend a lot of time in front of the camera as the paparazzi hound me for my latest 'crotch shot '

I therefore spend quite some time in front of the mirror to make sure I'm still simply super !

Here's the mirror in my sons bedroom!

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Nice eh ?....Oh...hee hee..I notice I caught in the reflection another mirror too !

cool !!



So, What exactly is the shiny stuff that makes a mirror ?..Is it toxic ?..Has mirror production changed over the last 100 years ? ...Is the glass absolutely necessary ?...could not a plastic be used ? 


No need to answer immediately....reflect on it for a while !*le groan*

Hugs


Neil
Man In The Mirror

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[AllenG]

Silver.
I believe the modern way to produce mirrors is a marvel of industry not unlike the process of making flat glass.
And that is all I know of mirror construction without resorting to Google.

[DoctorBeaver]

I thought it was aluminium  []

[that mad man]

And I though it was chrome.. []

[Bored chemist]

And I know it can be any of those, also sometimes other metals for special effects.

[RD]

So, What exactly is the shiny stuff that makes a mirror ?..Is it toxic ?..Has mirror production changed over the last 100 years ? ...Is the glass absolutely necessary ?...could not a plastic be used ? 

Antique mirrors (pre-19th century) use a mercury-tin amalgam which is toxic, (mercury vapour).
http://www.p2pays.org/ref/38/37983.pdf

A plastic surface would deform and scratch more easily than glass, distorting / degrading the reflected image. (Isn't a CD a plastic mirror ?) 

[DoctorBeaver]

How shiny would a plutonium mirror be?

[that mad man]

Not very as its a dull soft metal I think and has a fairly high resistance so not very good for electroplating.

I remember being a norty child and peeling away a layer on a mirror to see what it was like. One side was shiny chrome and the other looked as though it was copper. If I remember to get chrome to stick it needs a copper layer first.

Its probably done differently now though.

Magic mirror on the door, make my...

er, I'll get me coat..

[DoctorBeaver]

Not very as its a dull soft metal I think and has a fairly high resistance so not very good for electroplating.

I remember being a norty child and peeling away a layer on a mirror to see what it was like. One side was shiny chrome and the other looked as though it was copper. If I remember to get chrome to stick it needs a copper layer first.

Its probably done differently now though.

Magic mirror on the door, make my...

... next door neighbour poor?

...bottom not so sore?

...trousers reach the floor?

 []

[that mad man]

Trousers was near..... []

[DoctorBeaver]

I know  []

[Soul Surfer]

Traditionally mirrors were silvered using a chemical deposition process.  Modern mirrors are probably aluminised using vapour deposition in a vacuum

[DoctorBeaver]

A-ha... caught you out. There's no such thing as a vacuum!  []

[Soul Surfer]

OK very low pressure you pedant   [] [] [] []

[DoctorBeaver]

[Bored chemist]

They used to use amalgamated tin (mercury and tin) as the "silvering" for mirrors leding to this little rhyme.
'Little Willie from his mirror licked the mercury right off /
Thinking in his childish error it would cure the whooping cough /
At his funeral his mother smartly said to Mrs Brown /
"Twas a chilly day for Willie when the mercury went down."'

There are lots of ways to make mirrors. Cheap ones these days are made by vapour deposition but chemical silvering ( with real silver) is still used.
The original ones were made from polished metal ( possibly polished rock predated these and I guess looking in a pool of water was the first "mirror".)

The copper layer is behind the chrome or silver. It's added afterwards as a protective film (because you can electroplate a thick layer of copper on easilly once the silver is there.)

[Make it Lady]

When you look out of the window you see the world but if you think only of material things you coat your window with silver. Once you think only of silver the only thing you see when you look out of your window is yourself.

Pause for thought on mirrors....back to your science stuff,it much more interesting!

[DoctorBeaver]

I conceive the modern way to develop reflectors is a marvel of industry not unlike the procedure of making flat glass.
And that is all I know of mirror structure without recurring to Google.
_____________________
Aady
Wide Circles 

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