Mirrors: why, when they are flat on a wall, can you see reflections of things not immediately parallel to the mirror?

Question

I’ve looked this up and I don’t understand the physics and need a stupid simple explanation please!

In: 2

Answer 1

if you do not like the standard explanation of light rays bouncing off, think of a mirror as a window into the “mirror universe”. What you see in a window changes depending on your angle to the window.

PS this is just an analogy. There is no mirror universe, the stuff you see in the mirror is our normal universe.

Answer 2

if you do not like the standard explanation of light rays bouncing off, think of a mirror as a window into the “mirror universe”. What you see in a window changes depending on your angle to the window.

PS this is just an analogy. There is no mirror universe, the stuff you see in the mirror is our normal universe.