Question

A person walks at a velocity v in a straight line forming an angle a with the plane of a mirror.

Answer 1

We decompose the velocity vector v of the person into two components, one parallel to the mirror, v|| and the other perpendicular to the mirror, v⊥, i.e., v = v|| + v⊥ (fig. 243).



The velocity of the image will obviously be v' = v|| + v⊥. Therefore, the velocity at which the person approaches his image is defined as his velocity relative to the image from the formula