Composition of Two Reflections Across Intersecting Lines
Statement
Let and be two lines intersecting at a point such that the directed angle from to is . Then the composition of the reflection across followed by the reflection across is the rotation about by angle : .
Why is it true?
A single reflection flips orientation (left hand becomes right hand), so doing two reflections in a row restores the original orientation and must be a rigid motion without flipping. Since the intersection point lies on both mirrors, neither reflection moves , so the combined motion must be a rotation around , and each mirror contributes twice the angle between the point and that mirror.
Proof sketch
First, since lies on both and , both reflections fix . Take any point distinct from , and let and .
Because is the perpendicular bisector of and is the perpendicular bisector of , we have , so and lie on the same circle centered at .
Let be the directed angle from ray to , and be the directed angle from to . Reflection across sends to by rotating through , and reflection across sends to by rotating through . Adding the directed angles gives , which is independent of . Hence every point is rotated around by , proving the composition equals .
Topics that use this theorem
Step-by-step proofs
No step-by-step proof yet for this theorem.
References
- H. S. M. Coxeter (1969). Introduction to Geometry
- Wikipedia contributors (2026). Geometric transformation — Wikipedia