Overview: Mirror Image | General Intelligence and Reasoning for SSC CGL PDF Download

Introduction

• When an object is reflected in a mirror, it creates what is commonly known as its mirror reflection or mirror image. In this mirrored representation, the right side of the object appears on the left side, and vice versa. This phenomenon is described as "lateral inversion," where the object's orientation is flipped along its horizontal axis.
• Certain letters and numbers remain unchanged when subjected to this mirroring process. To put it differently, their mirror images are identical to their original forms. These letters include A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W, X, and Y. Similarly, in the realm of lowercase letters, i, l, o, v, w, and x share this property, having mirror images that are the same as their original representations. Among the numbers, 1 and 8 stand out as the only two with mirror images that match their original forms.
• This intriguing property is linked to the concept of bilateral symmetry. Objects possessing bilateral symmetry have mirror images that are indistinguishable from the objects themselves. This symmetry becomes evident when one can draw an imaginary line vertically through the object, effectively dividing it into two symmetrical halves. Both of these halves can be superimposed onto each other, resulting in the mirror image being perfectly identical to the object's original image. In essence, the mirror image preserves the symmetry and structure of the object.

Working Rule For Mirror Images

From the above figure, it is clear that in a mirror top and bottom of an image doesn’t change but the Left Hand Side (L H S) of real image becomes the Right Hand Side (R H S) in mirror image and the R H S in the real image becomes the L H S in the mirror image.

There are basically two types of questions in this section. The first kind is the letter/ Number Images. Here, you will have a  combination of letters/words/numbers. We have to find their mirror images out of given alternatives. The second is the Geometrical Images questions. In this type of questions, we deal with figures having defined geometrical shapes. Let us see some solved examples to understand the concept better.

Solved Examples

Directions: In each of the following questions, four alternatives are given, which follow the word or number marked as a question. You have to select one alternative, which exactly matches with the mirror of the word/ number in the question.

Q1: Which among the following illustrations specifies the correct mirror image of
O B S T I N A T E ?

Ans: a
Sol:
The first step is to check the first and the last letters. We know that the reflection at a mirror is equivalent to an inversion. In other words, we say that in a mirror top and bottom of an image doesn’t change but the Left Hand Side (L H S) of real image becomes the Right Hand Side (R H S) in mirror image and the R H S in the real image becomes the L H S in the mirror image.
A time-saving trick is to eliminate the letters whose mirror image is the same as that of the original shape. The first letter in the mirror image of O B S T I N A T E should be the mirror image of E which is only in the option (a). Therefore the correct option is (a).

Q2: Which among the following illustrations specifies the correct mirror image of 
P R O C R A S T I N A T E ?

Ans: b
Sol: Let us see the first letter in the mirror image of P R O C R A S T I N A T E. The first letter in the mirror image would be the last letter in the original word P R O C R A S T I N A T E, which is E. The only option that has its first letter as the mirror image of E is option (b). Therefore (b) is the correct option.

Practice Questions

Directions:  In each of the following questions, there are four alternatives , which follow the word or number marked as a question. You have to select one alternative, which exactly matches with the mirror of the word/ number in the question.

Q1: Which among the following illustrations specifies the correct mirror image of P R E C A R I O U S?

Ans: (a)

Q2: Which among the following illustrations specifies the correct mirror image of P E R F E C T I O N?

Ans: (c)