What type of glass is on a mirror?

Answer 1

You can use any kind of glass to make a mirror - clear or colored, soda-lime or borosilicate, float glass or blown glass.

Most mirrors are made out of float glass (standard window glass) coated with a layer of silver. The silver is protected by a layer of paint. Some manufacturers add a layer of copper between the silver and the paint to protect the silver from tarnishing.

White metals like silver and aluminum reflect all the colors of light. You can also make a mirror with other metals, such as gold, copper or lead sulfide. Some telescopes and dental mirror are made with a layer of aluminum "sputtered" onto the front of the glass.

You can see yourself in a mirror because the light rays that bounce off your face (or any object) bounce back to your eye when they hit the layer of metal instead of passing through as they do with transparent glass.