Concept 1 of 9
Mirror Images: Left-Right Flip
Today's big idea
A vertical mirror swaps left for right and leaves top and bottom exactly where they were.
A mirror swaps only left and right, so a shape is unchanged when its halves match.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Look at the front of an ambulance and the word on the bonnet is painted back to front. It only reads properly in a driver's rear-view mirror, which flips it the right way round again.
💡 Here's the trick
Only the left and right sides trade places. The top stays on top and the bottom stays on the bottom. A letter comes back unchanged when its left half already matches its right half, and it flips when the two halves differ.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Picture a vertical mirror line standing beside the shape in the picture above.
- 2.Swap whatever is on the left with whatever is on the right.
- 3.Leave the top and the bottom exactly where they are, then read the new shape.
✍️ Try it
Hold a lowercase p up to a vertical mirror. Then hold up the digit 3. What does each one become?
The bump on the p sits on the right, so it moves across to the left and you get q. The curves of the 3 open to the left, so they open to the right instead, giving a backwards 3.
⚠️ Watch out
Plenty of children answer p for the mirror of b, because p does look like a flipped b. But p is b turned upside down, and a wall mirror never touches top and bottom. Swap left for right only, and b becomes d.
🌟 Why this matters
Any mirror you meet does this same swap. The parting in your hair jumps to the other side. A clock on the wall behind you seems to run backwards. The writing on your T-shirt reads the wrong way round.
Exam tip: Mirror items are worth a mark or two in most papers, and the quickest check is whether the letter's two halves already match.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“Mirror image of the letter b is?”
- 1
Examine b
Bump on the right.
- 2
Mirror flips left ↔ right
Bump moves to the left.
- 3
Match a letter
Bump-on-left = d.
- 4
Answer ✓
d
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
A vertical mirror swaps LEFT and RIGHT. Reveal the reflection, then name it.
MIRROR · ROUND 1 OF 3
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
Which capital letter looks EXACTLY the same in a vertical mirror?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Water Image
Top becomes bottom. Left and right stay put.