Mirrors are used everywhere, starting from our homes, to our vehicles, up to telescopes and laboratories, and they help with much more than just seeing our reflections. There are many cool things about these units, and since most of us encounter them at least several times every day, it is useful to know where they come from, how are they manufactured, and what they consist of.
In this article, we are going to tell you what materials are used to make a mirror, and we will also list some interesting things about them that you didn’t know before. So, keep on reading to find out not only how they are made today, but also what was used to see our reflection in ancient times.
What is it made of?
As you probably know, all mirrors are made of glass, but when we think about it, we know that items made of this material are not reflective but they are actually transparent. So, this is usually why many people cannot wrap their minds around these units being made of glass entirely. Well, the secret is that this is not the only thing used to make them, and the process is a bit more complicated than we can imagine.
The way that they are made is by adding a thin layer of silver on top of the glass to make it reflective, and that is how mirrors are crated.
When they need to be manufactured on a large scale, in the factories the first thing that is done is dissolving some aluminum or silver nitrate in water, Rochelle salts, as well as ammonia, and that concoction is added to the top of the glass surface. After a while, the layer is going to start becoming reflective, and that is how the mirrors are created.
You can visit everbettermirror.com if you want to get more information on the step-by-step process of manufacturing and find out all the elements and materials that are used in the making of the mirrors.
Know that you can also make one of these units at home, without having to go through too much trouble, and you will only need a smooth and flat piece of glass and some items that you can find in pretty much every store that sells household items. You may need some practice to perfect this, but if you are interested in creating a mirror on your own, you can definitely do that.
Some facts you probably didn’t know
Now that you know what these units are made of, we are going to list some things that you probably didn’t know about them.
You should first know that the mirror, as we know it was invented about 200 years ago, and it was made in the mid-1800s, by a German chemist. Justus Von Liebig found out that if you use a glass surface and if you add a thin layer of metallic silver, you will be able to see your reflection in it. This is how the items, as we know them were found, but they date far beyond that.
It is said that in ancient times, people used containers filled with water and that is how they saw their reflections in it. It was also a practice to use dark water to do the same. The 7th century BCE is when the dark water was replaced with polished glass, and this is when glass was introduced as the primary material for making mirrors.
We all know that mirrors reflect light, but did you know that they are also used to split light, reflect matter, and reflect sound? They are called beam spitters, atomic mirrors, and acoustic mirrors respectively, and they were developed in different parts of our history to help out for different purposes. For example, acoustic ones were used in WWII, before the radars were invented to detect sound and find out when aircraft are approaching. The beam splitters are used in devices like the telescope, and they can help us see distant planets, stars, and other things in the galaxy.
When it comes to interesting facts about them, you’ve probably heard at least one superstition related to them, and the most popular one dates back to Roman times. We all know that something bad will follow us for seven years if we break a mirror, and in Roman times, it was believed that if you break one of these units, your life will also shatter, and since they believed that life is renewed every seven years, that is why it needed that long for the bad luck to stop following people. In addition to this, it was believed that if you break a really old mirror, you will shatter your soul, and this, so-called curse, will last for far more than just seven years. Nowadays, even though most of us don’t really know where the superstition comes from, we still try to steer away from breaking these items and we feel scared every time that happens.
Another interesting fact is that there is research that these items can cause hallucinations, and everyone can do that. The only thing that people need to do is dim the lights in the room up to the point where they can only see their face in the reflection, and if they stare at their reflection for about ten minutes, they will start to hallucinate. As you have probably heard many times in your teenage life, there are many scary stories related to this, and if you can remember, most of these start by holding a candle in a dark room, in front of a mirror. This is how all of those scary stories began, and if you do that, chances are, you will start seeing things, but not because they come from the beyond, it is just because our brain reacts that way in a poorly-lit room where we can only see our face in the reflection.
These are some of the things that you need to know about the invention, creation, and usage of the mirrors, and you should definitely continue researching them if you want to learn many fun facts and gain more knowledge about how they are created.
