MIRROR
A mirror is a highly reflective surface. The most common mirrors are flat and are known as plane mirrors. Household mirrors are plane mirrors. They are made of a flat piece of glass with a thin layer of silver nitrate or aluminum on the back. However, other mirrors are curved and are either convex mirrors or are concave mirrors. The reflecting properties of all three types of mirrors will be discussed in this section.
IMAGE FORMATION
An image is a visual reproduction of an object formed by a mirror or a lens. Incident rays coming from an object strike a mirror or a lens may form an image after being reflected or refracted.
Image location is the location in space where all the reflected light appears to diverge from.
- Mirrors produce images by reflecting light.
- Lens produce images by allowing light to go through. (refraction)
Image location is the location in space where all the reflected light appears to diverge from.
In the case of plane mirrors, the image is said to be a virtual image. Virtual images are images which are formed in locations where light does not actually reach. Light does not actually pass through the location on the other side of the mirror; it only appears to an observer as though the light is coming from this location.
Real images are formed by curved mirrors. When rays reflected by a mirror or refracted by a lens intersect, the image formed is real image. Such images are formed on the same side of the mirror as the object and light passes through the actual image location. |
PLANE MIRRORS
If the reflecting surface of the mirror is flat then we call this type of mirror as plane mirrors. Light always has regular reflection on plane mirrors. For flat mirrors the Law of Plane Mirrors states that "the image is always the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror." The image, I, and the object, O, always line up along the same normal. The image is upright, but left-right reversed. |
SPHERICAL MIRROR
A spherical mirror is a mirror which has the shape of a piece cut out of a spherical surface. There are two types of spherical mirrors: concave, and convex
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PARTS OF THE SPHERICAL MIRROR
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