Reflection of light, Spherical mirror

Reflection of light

When a ray of light falls on any surface of the  polished smooth object and bounces back these ray of light is called as reflection of the light. Reflection of light is the process through which ray of light falls on the surface of the object and reflected back is called reflection of light.

 Incident ray:--

                        the ray of light which falls on the surface of the object is called the incident ray.

Reflected ray:--

                          the ray of light which gets reflected back is called as reflected ray.

Normal:--

                At the point of the incidence , When the ray of light strikes on the surface of the mirror , a perpendicular line is drawn is known as the normal.

Angel of incident:--

                                  When a ray of light falls on the surface of the mirror, the angle formed by the incident ray with the normal is called angle of the incidence.

Angle of reflection:--

                                    When a ray of is reflected by the mirror, the angle formed by the reflected ray with the normal at point of incidence is called the angle of reflection.

                    


 

Law of reflection of light :--

The angel of reflection is equal to the angle of reflection

The incident ray , the reflected ray , and the normal to the mirror at the point of the incident are all lie in the same plane.

 

 

Properties of the images formed by the plane mirror:--

 

Image formed by a plane mirror is always virtual and erect.

The size of the image is equal to the object.

The distance of the image is equal to the object.

Image is laterally inverted.

Image Is formed behind the mirror.

 

Curved mirror:-- 

                            Curved mirror is a type of the mirror which have a curved reflecting surface.

 

Spherical mirror:--

                                 Those curved mirrors whose reflecting surfaces are spherical is known as spherical mirrors. And the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror may be curved inwards or outwards. and we can easily understand with the help of curved spoon, in which the surface of the spoon curved inwards can be said to be concave mirror and the surface of the spoon is curved outwards can be said to be convex mirror.  

So, there are two types of spherical mirror:--

Concave mirror

Convex mirror

                   


                         concave                 convex

                   

Concave mirror:--

                                a concave mirror is a spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved inwards and whose faces towards the center of the sphere is known as concave mirror.                               

 Concave mirror is also called converging mirror because this reflecting surface  tend to collect the light incident on its surface , when light falls on them  And is refocusing parallel incoming ray of light towards a common  focus. Due to this , light is reflected at different angels at different points or spots on the mirror as the normal to the mirror surface is diifer at each and every point or spot.

 

Properties of the concave mirror:--

 

Concave mirror is also called as converging mirror.

In concave mirror , the reflecting surface is always curved inwards.

The image formed by the concave mirror is always real images.

The image formed by the convex mirror is inverted except when the object is kept between the pole and the focus. In this situation, the image formed is virtual, enlarged and upright.

The size of the image of the object is depends on the position of the object placed. It can be smaller, equal and bigger than the actual object.

The focus (F) lies in front of the mirror.

The focal length is positive.

The position of the image can be formed anywhere which depends upon the position of the object.

The image formed by the concave mirror is projected always real image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uses of concave mirror :--

Concave mirrors are used mainly in torches and search light.

Concave mirror is also used in vehicles headlights to get powerful beam of light.

Concave mirror are used as saving mirrors to get a large images of the faces.

Concave mirror is used by dentists to see large images of the teeth of the patients.

In solar furnaces, concave mirror is used to concentrate the sunlight to produce heat.

 

 

Convex mirror :--

                        A convex mirror is a spherical mirror whose reflecting surface is curved outside is called as convex mirror. Convex mirror is also called as diverging mirror because of the behavior of the convex mirror that make to rays of light to diverge upon reflection. Due to this , when the ray of light is incident on the convex mirror, it enables the parallel ray of light that is formed the beam of light to deviate or diverge after hitting the reflective surface of the convex mirror.  Convex mirror is not producing real images. It produces virtual images because the convex mirror is spherical mirror that has ability to reflect all the ray of light in the outwards directions.  Due to such properties,  the size of the image formed is smaller than the actual size of the object. convex mirror is formed behind the mirror.

 

Properties of the convex mirror:--

Convex mirror is also called as diverging mirror.

The reflecting surface of the convex mirror is curved outwards or outside.

The image formed by the convex mirror is virtual.

The image formed by the convex mirror is upright and diminished from the actual size.

The size of the image of the object is smaller than the actual size of the object.

The focus (F) lies behind the mirror.

The focal length is negative.

The position of the image is always lies within the focus.

The image formed by this convex mirror can be projected on the screen.

 

 

 

Uses of the convex mirror:--

 

Convex mirror are mainly used in vehicles as a rear – view mirrors. These mirror is mainly fitted on the side of the vehicle which is helpful to see the traffic behind the driver for the safe driving.

Convex mirror is also used in supermarket , grocery shop etc to get the broad view of the corners of the area around for the security purposes.

Convex mirror is used at edge of the roadside so that the driver can get view the incoming vehicles to avoid the collision.

Convex mirror is also used in street light reflectors.

Convex mirror is also used in ATM machine.

 

                        

 

  

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