Why if you actually look at a mirror is it blurred, but you need to look beyond it although there is nothing there to see your reflection clearly?

Question

Feels like a deep metaphor for something

In: Physics

Answer 1

If you look at dust on the mirror, the mirror is not blurred. Your reflection is. That because you’re focusing at the distance where the mirror is, but the image is behind the mirror. If you’re 4 feet from the mirror, the image is 8 feet in front of you.

The tough part to understand is that the image you see in the mirror is a virtual image.

Even harder to understand is that there’s a toy which produces a 3D holographic image, which is a real image:

[https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Creator-Hologram-Parabolic-Reflector/dp/B001TFV4BE](https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Creator-Hologram-Parabolic-Reflector/dp/B001TFV4BE)

I’m trying to think of a way to describe real vs virtual images to a 5 year old, but it’s not happening. I guess the easiest way is to ask why does a room covered in mirrors look bigger than it really is?