SCIENCE 10-Q2

LIGHT: MIRRORS & LENSES

MODULE 4
Reflection of Light in Mirrors
Lesson 1

What I Need To Know

In this module, you will study two of the properties of visible light – reflection and refraction.. As you walk
through the pages of this module, you will be able to use the laws of reflection and refraction in order to describe
and explain how images are by formed by mirrors and lenses.

One of the objectives of this module is to make you aware of the applications of the different types of mirrors
and lenses so you can select the right type of mirrors and lenses that you can use in your daily lives.

After going through this module, you should be able to predict the qualitative characteristics (location,
orientation, type, and magnification) of images formed by plane and curved mirrors.

What’s In

Are you familiar with an ambulance? What is it for? How is the word “AMBULANCE”
written on the vehicle?

Answer: _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Now, get a plane mirror and place this picture of ambulance in front of the
mirror. What do you observe?

I have observed that_____________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

What you have observed with the image of the word “AMBULANCE” on the mirror is called “lateral
inversion” . This results from the reflection of light on the plane mirror.

What’s New

In this module, you will learn more about reflection of light in plane and curved mirrors. Here are some
important terms which you need to understand. Study the picture below.

Incident ray- the ray of light approaching the

mirror, represented by an arrow pointed towards the mirror
surface.

Reflected ray – the ray of light which leaves the

mirror, and is represented by an arrow pointing away from
the mirror.

Normal line – an imaginary line that can be

drawn perpendicular to the surface of the mirror at the pont
of incidence where the ray strikes the mirror.

The angle between the incident ray and the normal

line is the angle of incidence θi and the angle between
the reflected ray and the normal is known as the angle of
reflection, θr.

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Analysis: Using the picture above, complete the first law of reflection :

“ The angle of incidence is ____________ to the angle of reflection.”

The other law states that “The normal line, the incident ray, and the reflected ray lie on the same plane”.

What Is It

The laws of reflection are true for all types of mirrors. A regular reflection takes place when visible light
rays fall on the smooth surface of a mirror, whether plane or curved. Regular reflection enables a surface to form
images. The illustration below shows how an image is formed in front of a plane mirror.

How an image is formed by a plane mirror

https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Map%3A_University_Physics_III_-
_Optics_and_Modern_Physics_(OpenStax)/02%3A_Geometric_Optics_and_Image_Formation/2.02%3A_Images_Formed_by_Plane_Mirrors

Now, get a metal spoon and try to look at YOUR reflection on it. Are your reflections on both
surfaces (inner and outer) of the spoon the same?

The surface of a metal spoon is an example of a curved mirror. A curved mirror is a mirror with a
curved reflecting surface. There are two kinds of curved mirrors and they are shown below.

The Concave Mirror is a curved mirror whose

reflective surface bulges away from the light source. Parallel
incident rays converge or meet/intersect at a focal point after
reflection. That is why it also called a converging mirror.

The Convex Mirror is a curved mirror in which the

reflective surface bulges towards the light source. The
parallel incident rays of light diverge (spread out) after
reflection. When extending the reflected rays behind the
mirror, the rays converge at the focus behind the mirror.

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 Again, it is very important to remember that formation of images in front of a mirror can happen because
of regular reflection. How are the images formed by curved mirrors?
In locating the image formed in curved mirrors graphically, three important points are considered. They are
shown below.

Concave Mirror Convex Mirror

• Center of Curvature, C – the center of the sphere which the mirror is part. Its distance from the mirror is
twice the F.
• Vertex V – the center of the mirror
• Focal Point/Focus F – the point between the center of the curvature and the vertex. Its distance from the
mirror is known as the focal length, f.

What’s More

Image Formation in Curved Mirrors

Images formed in a curved mirror can be located and described through ray diagramming. In this method,
we can use two rays that come from the object. To draw diagrams, we will have to follow the two rules of reflection
for spherical or curved mirrors:

• Any incident ray traveling parallel to the principal axis on the way to the mirror will pass through
the focal point upon reflection.

• Any incident ray passing through the focal point on the way to the mirror will travel parallel to the
principal axis upon reflection.

Step-by-Step Method for Drawing Ray Diagrams for Concave Mirrors

The method for drawing ray diagrams for concave mirror is described below. The method is applied to the
task of drawing a ray diagram for an object located beyond the center of curvature (C) of a concave mirror. Yet the
same method works for drawing a ray diagram for any object location.

1. Pick a point on the top of the object and draw two incident
rays traveling towards the mirror.
Using a straight edge, accurately draw one ray so that it passes exactly
through the focal point on the way to the mirror. Draw the second ray
such that it travels exactly parallel to the principal axis. Place arrowheads
upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel.

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2. Once these incident rays strike the mirror, reflect them
according to the two rules of reflection for concave mirrors.
The ray that passes through the focal point on the way to the mirror will
reflect and travel parallel to the principal axis. Use a straight edge to
accurately draw its path. The ray that traveled parallel to the principal axis
on the way to the mirror will reflect and travel through the focal point. Place
arrowheads upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel. Extend the
rays past their point of intersection.

3. Mark the image of the top of the object.

The image point of the top of the object is the point where the two
reflected rays intersect. If your were to draw a third pair of incident and
reflected rays, then the third reflected ray would also pass through this
point. This is merely the point where all light from the top of the object
would intersect upon reflecting off the mirror.

4. Repeat the process for the bottom of the object.

After completing the first three steps, only the image location of the top
extreme of the object has been found. Thus, the process must be
repeated for the point on the bottom of the object. If the bottom of the
object lies upon the principal axis (as it does in this example), then the
image of this point will also lie upon the principal axis and be the same
distance from the mirror as the image of the top of the object. At this
point the entire image can be filled in.

Step-by-Step Procedure for Drawing Ray Diagrams forConvex Mirrors

The method of drawing ray diagrams for convex mirrors is described below.

1. Pick a point on the top of the object and draw two incident rays
traveling towards the mirror.
Using a straight edge, accurately draw one ray so that it travels towards the focal
point on the opposite side of the mirror; this ray will strike the mirror before reaching
the focal point; stop the ray at the point of incidence with the mirror. Draw the
second ray such that it travels exactly parallel to the principal axis. Place arrowheads
upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel.

2. Once these incident rays strike the mirror, reflect them

according to the two rules of reflection for convex mirrors.
The ray that travels towards the focal point will reflect and travel parallel to the
principal axis. Use a straight edge to accurately draw its path. The ray that traveled
parallel to the principal axis on the way to the mirror will reflect and travel in a
direction such that its extension passes through the focal point. Align a straight edge
with the point of incidence and the focal point, and draw the second reflected ray.
Place arrowheads upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel. The two rays
should be diverging upon reflection.

3. Locate and mark the image of the top of the object.

The image point of the top of the object is the point where the two reflected rays
intersect. Since the two reflected rays are diverging, they must be extended behind
the mirror in order to intersect. Using a straight edge, extend each of the rays using
dashed lines. Draw the extensions until they intersect. The point of intersection is
the image point of the top of the object. Both reflected rays would appear to
diverge from this point. If your were to draw a third pair of incident and reflected
rays, then the extensions of the third reflected ray would also pass through this
point. This is merely the point where all light from the top of the object would

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appear to diverge from upon reflecting off the mirror. Of course, the rest of the
object has an image as well and it can be found by applying the same three steps
for another chosen point.

4. Repeat the process for the bottom of the object.

After completing the first three steps, only the image location of the top extreme of
the object has been found. Thus, the process must be repeated for the point on the
bottom of the object. If the bottom of the object lies upon the principal axis (as it
does in this example), then the image of this point will also lie upon the principal
axis and be the same distance from the mirror as the image of the top of the
object. At this point the complete image can be filled in.

What I Have Learned

This time, you need to do – it – yourself. Using a protractor and a ruler, locate the
images formed by curved mirrors by following the steps correctly.
Concave Mirror

Convex Mirror

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 What I Can Do

Summarize the characteristics and location of the images formed in the ray
diagram by completing the table below.
Location of Image
Object
Location Orientation Size Type of Image
(Upright or (Same, Reduced, (Real or Virtual)
Inverted) or Enlarged)
CONCAVE
A. Beyond C
B. At C
C. Between C
and F
D. At F
E. Between F
and the mirror
CONVEX
F. Farther
than C
G. Between F
and the mirror

Questions:
1. What type of mirror do dentists use to clearly see the images of our teeth?

2. What kind of curved mirror do you see in most of the department stores? Why do
they use such kind of mirrors?