College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
6A20.50 - Mirrors - Cylindrical Amusement Park Mirrors
Bend the mirror along either of the two axis and observe the image as you move the object farther away from the mirror. At some point the image should turn upside down. When the image is upside down there should also be no perversion. The focal point of the mirror can also be changed by the amount of curvature applied.
- Bruce W. Liby and Sean Heffernan, "A Student-Built Flatness Gauge to Determine if a Fitness Center Employs Thinning Mirrors", TPT, Vol. 58, #2, Feb. 2020, p. 123.
- Martin Gardner, "Physics Trick of the Month: the Unreversed Reflection", TPT, Vol. 34, #9, Dec 1996, p. 563.
- Se‐yuen Mak and Karl C. Mamola, "Apparatus for Teaching Physics: Low‐Cost Cylindrical Mirrors", TPT, Vol. 31, #3, Mar. 1993, p. 186.
- T. H. Ansbacher and Joe Pizzo, "Deck the Halls: The Nonreversing Mirror with a Twist", TPT, Vol. 25, #2, Feb. 1987, p. 104.
- Thomas M. Holzberlein, "How to Become Dizzy with Derman's Optical Puzzle", TPT, Vol. 20, #6, Sept. 1982, p. 401.
- Paul E. Wack, "Cylindrical Mirrors", TPT, Vol. 19, #6, Dec. 1981, p. 581.
- Samuel Derman, "An Optical Puzzle That Will Make Your Head Spin", TPT, Vol. 19, #6, Sept. 1981, p. 395.
- Robert H. Johns, "Notes: Flexible Mirrors", TPT, Vol. 10, #5, May 1972, p. 266.
- Alan C. Traub, "Two Teaching Demonstrations Using Flexible Mirrors", AJP, Vol. 35, #6, June 1967, p. 534.
- R. Andrew Hicks, "The Customized Reflections of Freeform Mirrors", Physics Today, Vol. 63, #10, Oct. 2010, p. 72.
- "O-140. Mirror on Chest", DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook, 1993.
- Jearl Walker, "6.152. A Fast Spin in a Curved Mirror", The Flying Circus of Physics Ed. 2, p. 304.
- Christopher P. Jargodzki and Franklin Potter, "52. An Optical Puzzle", Mad About Physics, p. 18, 168.
- "Cylindrical Mirror", Exploratorium Science Snackbook, p. 35.1.
Disclaimer: These demonstrations are provided only for illustrative use by persons affiliated with The University of Iowa and only under the direction of a trained instructor or physicist. The University of Iowa is not responsible for demonstrations performed by those using their own equipment or who choose to use this reference material for their own purpose. The demonstrations included here are within the public domain and can be found in materials contained in libraries, bookstores, and through electronic sources. Performing all or any portion of any of these demonstrations, with or without revisions not depicted here entails inherent risks. These risks include, without limitation, bodily injury (and possibly death), including risks to health that may be temporary or permanent and that may exacerbate a pre-existing medical condition; and property loss or damage. Anyone performing any part of these demonstrations, even with revisions, knowingly and voluntarily assumes all risks associated with them.