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.
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:
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:
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:
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.