glass

Mirrors are
backed by a
very thin layer
of metal which
reflects the
light.

silver

paint

Mirrors produce
an upright, virtual
image that is
laterally inverted
Upright
Lateral Inversion
Virtual
Cannot be projected
onto a screen.

The law of reflection

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection

Image in a Plane Mirror

Mirror

Object
Image

Plane mirror
activity

Summary:
In

the IMAGE is:

As far behind the mirror as the

object is in front
The same size as the object
Virtual (if you look behind the
mirror, you won't find the image
there)
Laterally inverted (left is
swapped with right.

EXAMPLE

 Use a ray Box

Produce several pararellel rays of light to
shine on a white paper.
Place a Concave mirror in front of the rays
Describe what happens
Now try with a Convex mirror.
Do you notice any difference?
Explain what happens.

There are 2 types of curved mirrors:

CONCAVE (mirror that curves IN)

CONVEX (mirror that curves OUT)

Concave mirrors
Are called Converging mirrors
In a concave mirror the rays
converge in a point called Focus.
Parallel rays of
light are reflected
though the principal
focus of a concave
mirror.

Image in a concave mirror

If the object is close up to the mirror,
the image is:
the right way up (upright) and
magnified (made bigger).

 If it's further away the image is:

upside down (inverted) and
diminished (made smaller).

Convex mirrors
Are called diverging mirrors
In a convex mirror the rays converge
in a point called Focus.
Parallel rays of
light are reflected
so that they
appear to come
from the principal
focus of a convex
mirror.

Image in a convex mirror

The image is virtual, upright, and
diminished