Concave Convex Mirrors

Mirror

A mirror is a reflective surface that is smooth and well-polished. Mirrors are divided into two types: spherical and plane mirrors. When an object is placed in front of a mirror, the light bounces off it, creating either a real or a virtual image of the object. When the light beams really intersect, a true image is created. The apparent divergence of light rays from a point creates a virtual image. The virtual image is always formed by a plane mirror, whereas the virtual and real images are formed by a spherical mirror.

Spherical Mirror

A curved mirror can be thought of as the curved surface of a sparkling spoon. The spherical mirror is the most common type of curved mirror. Any sphere’s reflecting surface is considered to be a part of the sphere’s surface. Spherical mirrors are those that have spherical reflecting surfaces on their faces.

Spherical Mirrors are of two types:

1. Concave Mirror
2. Convex Mirror

Terms used in Spherical Mirror

1. Pole:The midpoint of the spherical mirror is known as Pole. The letter ‘P’ is used to signify it.
2. Centre of Curvature: The centre of the sphere which the mirror is a part of is known as centre of curvature. The letter “C” stands for the curvature’s centre.
3. The radius of Curvature: The distance between the pole of a spherical mirror and the centre of the curvature is known as the radius of curvature. The letter “R'” stands for the radius of curvature.
4. Principal Axis:The straight line passing through the pole of a spherical mirror and the centre of curvature is known as principal axis.
5. Aperture:The diameter of the reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is known as aperture.
6. Focus: The point on the principal axis where the light rays parallel to the principal axis converge (in case of concave mirror) or appear to diverge (in case of convex mirror) after getting reflected from the mirror is known as focus.
7. Focal Length:It is denoted by the letter ‘f’. It is the distance between the centre of the mirror and the focal point of the mirror. It is the point where a parallel beam of light converges or diverges.

Concave Mirror

When a hollow sphere is cut into certain pieces and the exterior surface of the cut part is painted, it becomes a mirror, with the interior surface reflecting light. As a result, you’ll have a concave mirror.

A concave mirror, also known as a converging mirror, is a mirror that is turned inwards in the middle. Furthermore, staring in this mirror will make us feel as if we are looking into a cave. When dealing with a concave mirror, we usually use the mirror equation.

The equation for these mirrors determines the object’s position as well as its precise size. In a concave mirror, the angle of incidence is not the same as the angle of reflection. Furthermore, the angle of reflection in this scenario is determined by the area that the light strikes.

Some examples of concave mirror in daily life are:

1. Shaving mirrors.
2. Astronomical telescopes.
3. Headlights.
4. Solar furnaces.

Properties of Concave Mirror

• After reflection, light converges at a point where it strikes and reflects back from the concave mirror’s reflecting surface. As a result, it’s also known as a converging mirror.
• A magnified and virtual image is observed when the converging mirror is put very close to the object.
• However, as the distance between the object and the mirror increases, the size of the image shrinks and a real image form.
• The image generated by the concave mirror might be little or huge, real or virtual, and can be small or massive.

Convex Mirror

If the hollow sphere’s cut half is painted from the inside, the sphere’s outside surface becomes the reflecting surface. A convex mirror is the name given to this type of mirror. A convex mirror is a spherical mirror with its reflecting surface bent outwards.

The back of the mirror is painted, allowing reflection solely from the bulged outward portion. The bulged outwards surface of the spoon can be thought to be a convex mirror.

It’s also known as a diverging mirror because the light that reflects off its surface diverges in numerous ways but appears to come together at some locations to form a virtual, erect picture of reduced size.

Some examples of concave mirror in daily life are:

1. Sunglasses
2. Vehicle mirrors
3. Magnifying glasses
4. Street light reflectors

Properties of Convex Mirror

• A diverging mirror is also known as a convex mirror because it diverges light as it hits its reflecting surface.
• Convex mirrors always produce or witness virtual, erect, and decreased images, regardless of the distance between the object and the mirror.

Conclusion

Everything observable in our environment is due to light. When beams of light from the source object are reflected to the observer, this occurs. We see objects due to a phenomenon known as light reflection, which does not modify the speed of light but rather reverses the direction of light striking on it. 

In order to have an excellent regular light reflection, the chosen surface should be smooth and shiny. Light reflection and image formation due to spherical mirrors are explained above. The types of images and its applications are also discussed.