QUESTION = How does the rear view mirror work after flipping it up at night?

GENERATION = If I'm not mistaken, the glass is slightly silvered. When the car is at night the glass is reflecting light at an angle that makes it reflect in the same direction that it was originally pointed. This is how it is able to show you a mirror at night. 

RETRIEVAL #0 = Rear-view mirror---that is wedge-shaped in cross section—its front and rear surfaces are not parallel. On manual tilt versions, a tab is used to adjust the mirror between "day" and "night" positions. In the day view position, the front surface is tilted and the reflective back side gives a strong reflection. When the mirror is moved to the night view position, its reflecting rear surface is tilted out of line with the driver's view. This view is actually a reflection off the low-reflection front surface; only a much-reduced amount of light is reflected into the driver's eyes. "Manual tilt" day/night mirrors first began appearing in the 1930s and became standard equipment on most passenger cars and trucks by the early 1970s. Section::::Anti-glare.:Automatic dimming. In the 1940s, American inventor Jacob Rabinow developed a light-sensitive automatic mechanism for the wedge-type day/night mirror. Several Chrysler Corporation cars offered these automatic mirrors as optional equipment as early as 1959, but few customers ordered them for their cars and the item was soon withdrawn from the option lists. Several automakers began offering rear-view mirrors with automatic dimming again in 1983, and it was in the late 1980s that they began to catch on in popularity. Current systems usually use photosensors mounted in the rear-view mirror to detect light 

RETRIEVAL #1 = Rear-view mirror---rear-view mirror mounted on a racing vehicle appeared on Ray Harroun's Marmon race car at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 race in 1911. Harroun himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for a similar purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904. Harroun also claimed that the mirror vibrated constantly due to the rough brick surface, and it was rendered largely useless. Elmer Berger is usually credited with inventing the rear-view mirror, though in fact he was the first to patent it (1921) and develop it for incorporation into production streetgoing automobiles by his Berger and Company. Section::::Augmentations and alternatives. Recently, rear-view video cameras have been built into many new model cars, this was partially in response to the rear-view mirrors' inability to show the road directly behind the car, due to the rear deck or trunk obscuring as much as 3–5 metres (10–15 feet) of road behind the car. As many as 50 small children are killed by SUVs every year in the USA because the driver cannot see them in their rear-view mirrors. Camera systems are usually mounted to the rear bumper or lower parts of the car, allowing for better rear visibility. There are three types of rearview cameras. Surface Mounted Flush Mounted License Mounted Surface Mounted Cameras These cameras are mounted on a flat surface of the 

RETRIEVAL #2 = Non-reversing mirror---angled to create a surface which curves and bends in different directions. The curves direct rays from an object across the mirror's face before sending them back to the viewer, flipping the conventional mirror image. A patent for a non-reversing mirror was issued to John Joseph Hooker in 1887. Section::::See also. BULLET::::- Corner reflector BULLET::::- Retroreflector Section::::External links. BULLET::::- "check your real image", free-non-reverse-mirror-site BULLET::::- See yourself as you really are BULLET::::- THE FACE; Do I Look Fat? BULLET:::: 

RETRIEVAL #3 = Mirror image---links. BULLET::::- Why do mirrors reverse images left to right? Why not up and down? BULLET::::- The same question explained a little differently, with examples BULLET::::- Why do mirrors flip horizontally (but not vertically)? BULLET::::- "Much ado about mirrors" (an academic paper about the psychology involved in the perception of mirror images) 

RETRIEVAL #4 = Laff Trakk---Going through more s-bend turns, you curve around and enter the final brake run featuring small fun house mirrors on each side of the car. At this point your ride vehicle spins to its neutral position and the ability to spin locks. Section::::See also. BULLET::::- 2015 in amusement parks 

RETRIEVAL #5 = One-way mirror---text projected onto glass directly in front of a film or television camera BULLET::::- Common setups of an infinity mirror illusion BULLET::::- Smart mirror (virtual mirror) and mirror TV The same type of mirror, when used in an optical instrument, is called a beam splitter and works on the same principle as a pellicle mirror. A partially transparent mirror is also an integral part of the Fabry–Pérot interferometer. Section::::See also. BULLET::::- Optical isolator BULLET::::- See-through graphics BULLET::::- Window film 

RETRIEVAL #6 = Crookes radiometer---heated in the absence of a light source, it turns in the forward direction (i.e. black sides trailing). If a person's hands are placed around the glass without touching it, the vanes will turn slowly or not at all, but if the glass is touched to warm it quickly, they will turn more noticeably. Directly heated glass gives off enough infrared radiation to turn the vanes, but glass blocks much of the far-infrared radiation from a source of warmth not in contact with it. However, near-infrared and visible light more easily penetrate the glass. If the glass is cooled quickly in the absence of a strong light source by putting ice on the glass or placing it in the freezer with the door almost closed, it turns backwards (i.e. the silver sides trail). This demonstrates black-body radiation from the black sides of the vanes rather than black-body absorption. The wheel turns backwards because the net exchange of heat between the black sides and the environment initially cools the black sides faster than the white sides. Upon reaching equilibrium, typically after a minute or two, reverse rotation ceases. This contrasts with sunlight, with which forward rotation can be maintained all day. Section::::Explanations for the force on the vanes. Over the years, there have been many attempts to explain how a Crookes radiometer works: BULLET::::