NNAT Mirror Images and Rotations 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When a figure is reflected in a vertical mirror, which aspect changes?
- Left and right are reversed (Correct answer)
- Top and bottom are reversed
- Size changes
- Color changes
Correct answer: Left and right are reversed
A vertical mirror line reverses the left-right orientation while keeping everything else the same.
Question 2: A letter F is rotated 180 degrees. What does it look like?
- An upside-down and backwards F (Correct answer)
- The same F
- A mirror image F
- The letter E
Correct answer: An upside-down and backwards F
A 180-degree rotation turns the figure completely upside down and reverses its horizontal direction.
Question 3: How do you distinguish between a rotation and a reflection of a figure?
- A rotation preserves the same orientation (handedness); a reflection reverses it (Correct answer)
- They produce identical results
- Rotations change size; reflections do not
- Reflections only work on symmetrical figures
Correct answer: A rotation preserves the same orientation (handedness); a reflection reverses it
A key difference is that rotation preserves handedness (a clock stays clockwise) while reflection reverses it (a clock becomes counter-clockwise).
Question 4: If a triangle pointing right is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, which direction does it point?
- Down (Correct answer)
- Left
- Up
- Right
Correct answer: Down
A 90-degree clockwise rotation moves the pointing direction one quarter turn to the right: right becomes down.
Question 5: A figure has rotational symmetry of order 4. What does this mean?
- It looks the same after rotations of 90, 180, 270, and 360 degrees (Correct answer)
- It has 4 sides
- It can only be rotated 4 times
- It has 4 colors
Correct answer: It looks the same after rotations of 90, 180, 270, and 360 degrees
Order 4 rotational symmetry means the figure maps onto itself 4 times during a full 360-degree rotation (at 90° intervals).
Question 6: Two figures appear identical except one is a mirror image. In a matching exercise, how do you identify the reflection?
- Check if any asymmetric features are reversed — text, directional elements, or unique markings (Correct answer)
- They are the same if they look similar
- Count the number of sides
- Measure the sizes
Correct answer: Check if any asymmetric features are reversed — text, directional elements, or unique markings
Asymmetric elements (like letters, arrows pointing in one direction, or unique markings on one side) will appear reversed in a mirror image.
NNAT Mirror Images and Rotations 1
When a figure is reflected in a vertical mirror, which aspect changes?