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18.1 Mirrors
OBJECTS AND THEIR IMAGES IN PLANE MIRRORS
Plane Mirror- a flat, smooth surface that reflects light in a
regular way.
Object- a source of diverging light rays
Image (P)- where the extended rays (behind a mirror)
apparently intersect
Virtual Image- Point from where the rays appear to come from
point (P) but there is actually no object there.
Object rays are reflected with equal angles of incidence and
reflection
The image is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is
in front of the mirror
CONCAVE MIRRORS
Concave Mirror- reflects light from its inner caved in surface
Principal Axis- the straight line perpendicular to the surface of
the mirror at its center
Think of a concave mirror as a large number of small plane
mirrors arranged around the surface of a sphere
o Each mirror is perpendicular to the radius of the sphere
o Angle of incidence still equals angle of reflection
Focal Point- half the distance between the mirror and the center
(of the sphere)
o All rays parallel to the principal axis will cross at the focal
point
Focal length, f- the length of half the radius of the mirror (the
length to the focal point)
SPHERICAL ABERRATION AND PARABOLIC MIRRORS
Spherical aberration- rays far from the principal axis do not
converge at the focal point, but rather slightly closer to the
mirror than others.
o Occurs at regular spherical mirrors
o Does not occur at parabolic mirrors (very difficult to make)
REAL VS VIRTUAL IMAGES
Real Image- Rays actually converge at that point, can be
projected on a piece of paper or a screen
Virtual Image- light rays do not actually converge, cannot be
projected on a screen
18.2 Lenses
TYPES OF LENSES
Lenses- are transparent
REAL IMAGES FORMED BY CONVEX LENSES
Convex lens can form an imaged that can be projected on a
screen