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Beth using a car mirror

Discussion in 'Episode 412 - Still' started by Morgotha, Mar 7, 2014.

  1. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    OK, I liked the episode a LOT, but one thing that's still bugging me (well, probably more than one, but this one tops the list).

    Beth grabs what looks like a passenger side mirror from the junk heap, and puts it behind a lens to start a fire. Now here's the problem: remembering back to my college days, a convex LENS would be good for starting fires (like a magnifying glass), as it would focus the sun's rays on one point, but a convex MIRROR like a passenger side car mirror would NOT be as it would make the sun's rays diverge rather than come together.

    Now she did use the piece of broken glass as a lens, but using the mirror would be worse than using no mirror at all! why not just sit on the other side of the fire pit and shine the sunlight directly through the lens rather than using the mirror?

    If I'm wrong and this was a driver's side mirror, that is a flat mirror and so could be used, but again, why use it at all, why not just put your lens in line with the sun and be done with it?
     
  2. thewalkingmummy

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    I agree it was a bit of a stretch. Magnifying glass is what you need and also she did it so quickly like in seconds. I remember on survivor they fumbled around (with the right equipment) for hours before a fire actually started.

    I think we have to occasionally overlook these little slips and go with the spirit of the story :Grin:
     
  3. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    NEVER! Never, I tell you! AAHHH!
     
  4. QOTWD

    QOTWD Member

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    Daryls gonna teach her how to rub some stick.
     
  5. Col. Matrix

    Col. Matrix New Member

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    you're correct and also that flat piece of broken headlight she used would probably do nothing either, you need a curved piece of glass like prescription eyeglasses to focus the light. in the US those headlight covers are plastic not glass also (in Europe I think they are glass).
     
  6. Danger Bunny

    Danger Bunny Member

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    A lens doesn't need to be curved, look up Fresnel Lens for an example. The piece of headlight she took is a lens, whether it's a lens she could use to focus the light to a point I'm not sure, but it is a lens -- it's not just a flat piece of glass. It was also an older car so there's decent chance the lens is glass, but either way it doesn't matter a plastic lens would work just as well.

    As to using the mirror, one of the difficulties using a lens to start a fire is getting the sun shinning in at the right angle, using a mirror solves that problem. Whether it was technically possible or not I liked it as it showed her being resourceful and showing someone being resourceful was a nice change of pace.
     
  7. QOTWD

    QOTWD Member

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    Thanks Mr. Wizard.

    Now back to the comic book zombie show.
     
  8. Morgotha

    Morgotha Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Thank you DB, you taught me something new.
     
  9. 12Gauge

    12Gauge Active Member

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    Same here, [MENTION=25292]Danger Bunny[/MENTION]. Thanks. I'll look like such the champ if I could pull this off like MacGuyver.
     
  10. Col. Matrix

    Col. Matrix New Member

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    you guys who think this is possible...i suggest you go try it with a flat piece of glass or plastic and a car mirror and then report back how well it works. a flat piece of glass doesn't focus light. if you don't believe me wait until the sun in low and going through your window, I am guessing your house won't burst into flames.
     
  11. westwingnut

    westwingnut Well-Known Member

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    Is it possible Beth was using part of the curved mirror behind the headlamp bulb? I can't say since I haven't had the chance to look at the scene in detail.
     
  12. Danger Bunny

    Danger Bunny Member

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    She wasn't using a flat piece of glass, she was using the lens from the front of the car's headlight. It's got a good chance of working, you shine the light through the lens from what was the exterior to the interior and it should focus the light to a point, whether it focuses it to a fine enough point I don't know and it likely varies vehicle to vehicle but the concept is sound.
     

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