Mirrors

A mirror is a surface that can reflect a beam of light in one direction instead of either scattering it widely in many directions or absorbing it. A shiny metal surface acts as a mirror; a concrete wall does not. Considering plane mirrors as the base we can derive the equation regarding the image formed.

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A point source of light O is considered, which is called the object, at a perpendicular distance ‘ in front of a plane mirror. The light that is incident on the mirror is represented with rays spreading from O. The reflection of that light is represented with reflected rays spreading from the mirror. If we extend the reflected rays backward (behind the mirror), we find that the extensions intersect at a point that is a perpendicular distance ‘ behind the mirror. The image point I is of the object O .It is called a point image because it is a point, and it is a virtual image because the rays do not actually pass through it.

Mirrors are of two type:

·        Concave mirrors

·        Convex mirrors

Concave mirror:

               It is a spherical mirror which when looked from the reflecting side is depressed at the center and bulging at the edges.

 

https://files.askiitians.com/cdn1/images/2014822-95433442-2829-concave.gif

Convex mirror:

               It is a spherical mirror which when looked from the reflecting side bulges at the center and is depressed at the edges

. https://files.askiitians.com/cdn1/images/2014822-95741554-9779-convex.gif