Reflections review

Google Classroom

Review the basics of reflections, and then perform some reflections.

What is a reflection?

A reflection is a type of transformation that takes each point in a figure and reflects it over a line.

This reflection maps

△ A B C

onto the blue triangle over the gold line of reflection.

The result is a new figure, called the image. The image is congruent to the original figure.

Want to learn more about different types of transformations? Check out this video.

Performing reflections

The line of reflection is usually given in the form

y = m x + b

Each point in the starting figure is the same perpendicular distance from the line of reflection as its corresponding point in the image.

Example:

Reflect

\overset{―}{P Q}

over the line

y = x

First, we must find the line of reflection

y = x

. The slope is

1

and the

y

intercept is

0

When the points that make up

\overset{―}{P Q}

are reflected over the line

y = x

, they travel in a direction perpendicular to the line and appear the same distance from the line on the other side.

Note that in the case of reflection over the line

y = x

, every point

(a, b)

is reflected onto an image point

(b, a)

Reflecting over the line

y = x

maps

\overset{―}{P Q}

onto the blue line below.

Want to learn more about performing reflections? Check out this video.

Practice

Problem 1

Plot the image of triangle $△ A B C$ ? under a reflection across the $y$ ?-axis.

Want to try more problems like this? Check out this exercise.

Want to join the conversation?

Sort by:

Ultimate Hope
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Ultimate Hope's post “Hw do I make the line go ...”
Hw do I make the line go where I want it, I'M SO CONFUSED!?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Ultimate Hope's post “Hw do I make the line go ...”
(39 votes)
Answer
- StellaAndShardBear
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to StellaAndShardBear's post “To move the line where yo...”
  To move the line where you want it to be, click/tap and hold down the dot to move it. Hope this helps!
  Button navigates to signup page
  (6 votes)
Valerie
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Valerie's post “a little bit troubling so...”
a little bit troubling some tips plz
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Valerie's post “a little bit troubling so...”
(33 votes)
Answer
- A B
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to A B's post “How to do the practice: ...”
  How to do the practice:
  
  For the question: "Use the "Reflect" tool to find the image of MN for a reflection over the line y=-x+1".
  
  First hit the "Reflect" button.
  
  Then move the line to the center of the grid by moving your mouse over the line, away from the arrows, until the cursor changes to the icon you recognize as allowing for moving. Move the line to the center of the grid. Then decide the slope the line needs to have. Here it is -1, so use the rotation arrows to change the slope to -1. Then determine the y-intercept. Here that is 1. So, move the line so that it goes through the y-intercept (0,1). Finally, hit one of the arrows on either side of the line to reflect the image.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (5 votes)
Elena Kolesneva
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Elena Kolesneva's post “i dont understand the lin...”
i dont understand the line of reflection in a form of an equation. there's smth missing here. is there a video?
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(15 votes)
Answer
- JAYDEN JONES
  Posted 2 years ago. Direct link to JAYDEN JONES's post “understand that the same ...”
  understand that the same distance away from the x-axis and the y-axis. there you will find your answer. keep practicing.
  Comment on JAYDEN JONES's post “understand that the same ...”
  (1 vote)
Darren Drake
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Darren Drake's post “Hi There. In the "Perfor...”
Hi There.

In the "Performing Reflections" I see the conventional equation is y=mx +b

Then the first example below it gives: y=x
which means that "the y intercept is 0 and the slope is 1".

Is there a video explaining how the slope is determined for the line of reflection? It feels like a formula, or equation, with rules that make no sense to me. <grin>

I can reflect shapes, and rotate shapes, across a line of reflection - no problem. I cannot see how the line of reflection is originally determined from the formula. Particularly, the slope.

What am I missing? I might have jumped a step somewhere, I don't know.
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Darren Drake's post “Hi There. In the "Perfor...”
(9 votes)
Answer
- kubleeka
  Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to kubleeka's post “Take a point A, and refle...”
  Take a point A, and reflect it across a line so that it lands at B. Join segment AB. The reflecting line will be a perpendicular bisector of AB.
  
  So if you know the coordinates of A and B, you can determine the slope of AB. Because they're perpendicular, you can then determine the slope of the reflecting line.
  
  Also, since you know the coordinates of A and B, you can find their midpoint, which will be on the reflecting line. So now you have the slope of the reflecting line and a point on it, and can find an equation for it.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (7 votes)
allecoth3546
Posted 2 years ago. Direct link to allecoth3546's post “how did everyone find thi...”
how did everyone find this so hard! It's so easy.
Button navigates to signup pageComment on allecoth3546's post “how did everyone find thi...”
(9 votes)
Answer
cooperbadeer
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to cooperbadeer's post “im never gonna need to kn...”
im never gonna need to know this
Button navigates to signup pageComment on cooperbadeer's post “im never gonna need to kn...”
(0 votes)
Answer
- David Severin
  Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to David Severin's post “You will need it to pass ...”
  You will need it to pass high school and maybe college. Artists, Architects, Designers (including video game designers), and others need to know it also.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (14 votes)
Alvin Izera
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Alvin Izera's post “what if a value of y is g...”
what if a value of y is given like....reflect across y=2
then ?? how to solve this?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Alvin Izera's post “what if a value of y is g...”
(4 votes)
Answer
- Ian Pulizzotto
  Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Ian Pulizzotto's post “Good question! If we ref...”
  Good question!
  
  If we reflect about the line y = 2, then the original point and its image have the same x-coordinate and have y-coordinates that average to 2 (and so add to twice 2, or 4).
  
  So the image of any point (x, y) would be (x, 4-y). For example, the image of (6, 5) would be (6, 4-5) = (6, -1).
  
  More generally, the image of any point (x, y) under reflection about the line y=b would be (x, 2b-y). Similarly, the image of any point (x, y) under reflection about the line x=a would be (2a-x, y). The concept of averaging in one coordinate and equality in the other coordinate leads to these formulas.
  Comment on Ian Pulizzotto's post “Good question! If we ref...”
  (5 votes)
harundiyarip
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to harundiyarip's post “your videos makes me smar...”
your videos makes me smarter, THANK YOU i appreciate it
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(6 votes)
Answer
christopher.shinn
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to christopher.shinn's post “i had some trouble with t...”
i had some trouble with these
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(5 votes)
Answer
28040
Posted 8 months ago. Direct link to 28040's post “what job is this for?”
what job is this for?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on 28040's post “what job is this for?”
(5 votes)
Answer
- 660832
  Posted 14 days ago. Direct link to 660832's post “what does it mean if you...”
  what does it mean if you did the problem correct but it says it is wrong ?
  Button navigates to signup page
  (1 vote)