a plane mirror is always virtual (meaning that the light rays do not actually come from the image), upright, and of the same shape and size as the object it is reflecting. A virtual image is a copy of an object formed at the location from which the light rays appear to come. However, the image is a laterally-inverted "mirror image" of the object. If a person is reflected in a plane mirror, the image of his right hand appears to be the left hand of the image. It is the only type of mirror which always gives us an image which is virtual, erect and of the same size as that of the object.