Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am a year 11 student in Australia:
For a school project I have to design a mirror, I was thinking of making a Portal infinity mirror either orange or blue. I want it to be fairly big but not too big, I'm not sure on the dimensions yet. I was just wondering how would I go about making a mirror of that size, I would like for it to be battery powered so it doesn't have to be plugged into a power point. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Ps. If possible could I make it with a continuos strip of LED's?

The project idea here (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p080.shtml) is pretty clear on how you'd make one and change the size. You would find an appropriate sized box, mirror and acrylic. You cold use an LED strip if you wanted to, but just be aware that most strips require 12V so you'll need a larger battery pack (8AAs as a minimum).

HowardE wrote:The project idea here (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p080.shtml) is pretty clear on how you'd make one and change the size. You would find an appropriate sized box, mirror and acrylic. You cold use an LED strip if you wanted to, but just be aware that most strips require 12V so you'll need a larger battery pack (8AAs as a minimum).

Thanks I was just wondering with the box would it be too chuncky to hang on a wall?

Hi Connor - if you search the web for "portal infinity mirror", you will find other projects similar to what you describe:

http://portalbedroom.com/2013/05/23/cre ... e-portals/

At some point, building a LARGE mirror will become more difficult than building a tiny one. It's pretty easy to build a small one just using a cardboard box. If you want to build a large one, the mirror and plexiglass parts will get pretty heavy, so cardboard might not be strong enough to support them. It looks like the one in the link I posted uses a wooden frame. Whether it is too "chunky" to hang on a wall just depends on how thin you can make the frame. You do not need that much space between the two mirrors - just enough to fit the LEDs.

bfinio wrote:Hi Connor - if you search the web for "portal infinity mirror", you will find other projects similar to what you describe:

http://portalbedroom.com/2013/05/23/cre ... e-portals/

At some point, building a LARGE mirror will become more difficult than building a tiny one. It's pretty easy to build a small one just using a cardboard box. If you want to build a large one, the mirror and plexiglass parts will get pretty heavy, so cardboard might not be strong enough to support them. It looks like the one in the link I posted uses a wooden frame. Whether it is too "chunky" to hang on a wall just depends on how thin you can make the frame. You do not need that much space between the two mirrors - just enough to fit the LEDs.

Thanks for the response I found this extremely helpful and will be making my mirror soon.