EXPERIMENT NO.

111 SPHERICAL MIRRORS

INTRODUCTION

Mirrors reflect light regularly and can form images. There are three kinds of mirrors: plane, concave, and
convex mirrors. A concave mirror is also called a converging mirror because it reflects light rays such that they
converge in front of the mirror (Figure 1a). A concave mirror can form real and virtual images depending on the
object distance. A convex mirror is also called a diverging mirror because it reflected rays are diverging (Figure
1b). A convex mirror can only form virtual images that are erect, smaller than the object, and located behind the
mirror.
In this experiment, you are going to use a concave mirror to locate real images. You will also compute the
focal length of the mirror using the mirror equation.

Figure 1a. Concave Mirror 1b. Convex Mirror

OBJECTIVE:

1. To compute the focal length of a concave mirror using the mirror equation.
at T

at To

MATERIALS

1 pc concave mirror
1 pc image screen
1 pc candle
1 pc optics bench
1 pc meterstick
Lo
Figure 1

The change in length ΔL is the difference of the final length from its i

ΔL=L−Lo (eqn. 1)
L

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THEORY
The center of the surface of a spherical mirror is called the vertex. The distance from the vertex to
the center of the sphere from where the mirror is cut is the radius R of the mirror. Halfway between the
vertex and the center of the mirror is the focal point F or focus. The distance from the focal point to the
vertex is called the focal length of the mirror. The focal length is half of the radius. The focal length is
related to the magnifying capacity of the mirror.
The mirror equation relates the object distance s, the image distance s’, and the focal length f.

1 1 1
= +
f s s' (eqn. 1)

The magnification M is the comparison of the image size and the object size.

hi
M=
ho (eqn. 2.)
The magnification M is also the ratio of the image distance and object distance.

s'
M=−
s (eqn. 3.)

The negative sign is for the orientation of the image. If the magnification is positive, the image is
erect. The image is inverted if the magnification is negative.

object
s

ho

hi
s’

image

Figure 2.

PROCEDURE:
Part A. Object distance greater than the image distance.
1. Set up the apparatus in a way that a projection
73 screen is place between the light source and a
movable concave mirror like in Figure 3. Adjust the concave mirror’s position until a clear image of
 s’

Part C. Object distance equal to image distance.

4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 but this time, the candle is side by side with the screen as in figure 5. Adjust
the distance of the concave mirror until a sharp image is formed on the screen. Compute the focal
length of the concave mirror using equation 1.
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 EXPERIMENT NO. 111 : SPHERICAL MIRRORS

TABLE 1. Object Distance Greater than Image Distance

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 TRIAL Object Distance Image Distance Focal Length
1 cm cm cm
2 cm cm cm
3 cm cm cm
average focal length
Focal length from Table 3
Percentage Difference
TABLE 2. Image Distance Greater than Object Distance
TRIAL Object Distance Image Distance Focal Length
1 cm cm cm
2 cm cm cm
3 cm cm cm
average focal length
Focal length from Table 3
Percentage Difference
TABLE 3. Image Distance Equal to Object Distance
TRIAL Object Distance Image Distance Focal Length
1 cm cm cm

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