Mirrors are commonly used products of everyday life, but they are not usual consider a type of material for construction. They aren’t considered very strong or useful for anything, but looking at yourself with. A mirror is an object with at least one reflective surface. Although mirrors are most known for personal use they are also used in telescopes, lasers, cameras, and types of industrial machinery.
Mirrors are manufactured by applying a reflective coating to a suitable substrate, which is usually glass. A substrate is just the object that is being coated in a coating process. Seeing that the substrate is usually glass, that is why both mirrors and glass have similar properties in terms of hardness and so forth. The first mirrors were nothing more than pieces of polished stone such as obsidian. Mirrors of polished copper have been found from 4000 and 3000 B.C.
Today, mirrors are made by shaping, polishing, cleaning, and lastly coating the chosen substrate. The substrate is commonly coated with non-toxic aluminum or silver and implemented with a series of coating. Five types of coating have to be done:
- Tin(II) Chloride
- Silver
- A Chemical Activator
- Copper
- Paint
The tin(II) chloride is applied because silver will not bond with the glass. The activator causes the tin/silver to harden. Copper is added for long-term durability. The paint protects the coating on the back of the mirror from scratches and other accidental damage.
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