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REFLECTION OF LIGHT AT CURVED SURFACES CONVEX MIRRORS

Spherical or curved mirrors are mirrors whose surface forms part of
a hollow sphere.
There are two types of curved surfaces
i) Concave/converging mirror (curve inwards)
ii) Convex/diverging mirror (curve outwards)
CONCAVE MIRRORS
A convex mirror is one with the reflecting/shinny surface on the
outer side of the mirror (i.e. the inner surface is coated). A convex
mirror is also called a diverging mirror because it diverges parallel
rays to appear like they are diverging from a point called the
principal focus.
A convex mirror has a virtual principal focus because light appears
to diverge (originate/come) from it after reflection.

A concave mirror is one with the reflecting/shinny surface on the

inner side of the mirror (i.e. the outer surface is coated). A concave
mirror is also called a converging mirror because it converges
parallel rays to a point called principal focus.

Definition of Terms
 The pole (P): is the centre of the reflecting surface
 Centre of curvature(C). It is the centre of the sphere which
the mirror forms part.
P - Pole of mirror
F - Principal focus  Principal axis: Is the imaginary line that passes through the
C - Centre of curvature pole, principal focus and the centre of curvature of the
r - Radius of curvature mirror.
f - Focal length
 Radius of curvature (r): this is the radius of the sphere
A concave mirror has a real principal focus because light actually
which the mirror forms part.
passes through it as they converge after reflection.
OR: it is the distance between the pole of the mirror and its centre of
curvature

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 Focal length (f): this is the distance from the pole of the
mirror to the principal focus.

 Aperture. This is the width of the mirror.

 Principal focus / focal point(f):

a) For a concave mirror.

It’s a point on the principal axis where all incident rays parallel and
close to the principal axis converge to after reflection.
CONSTRUCTION OF RAY DIAGRAMS
b) For a convex mirror.
Ray diagrams can be used to explain how and where a curved mirror
It’s a point on the principal axis where all incident rays parallel and
close to the principal axis appear to diverge from after reflection. forms images. The rays are drawn using any two of the following 3
Note: F is real for a concave mirror and virtual for a convex principal.
mirror.
 Real image: Is one which is formed by actual intersection of a) For a concave mirror. b) For a convex mirror
rays and can be formed on the screen.
 Virtual images: It is one which is formed by apparent
intersection of rays and cannot be formed on the screen.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN f AND r

The relation between r and f is given by . This implies that
the radius of curvature is twice the focal length.

Parabolic mirrors
This has the property of reflecting wide beam of light at its principle 2. A ray through the principal focus is reflected parallel to the
focus as a perfectly parallel beam hence the intensity of the reflected principal axis.
beam does not change as the distance from the mirror increases.

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a) For a concave mirror b) For a convex mirror 1. Object 0 beyond C

2. Object 0 at C
3. A ray through the centre of curvature is reflected along the same
path.
a) For a concave mirror b) For a convex mirror

2. Object 0 between C and F

Image formation by concave mirror

The type, size and position of the image formed by a concave mirror
depend centrally on the distance of the object from the mirror.

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Image formed is virtual, diminished,

3. Object 0 at F Upright (erect) and formed between F and P.

Construction of ray diagrams to scale.

Example
1. An object 4cm high is placed 30cm from a concave mirror of
focal length 10cm. by construction, find the position nature and size
of the image
2. An object 3cm high is placed, on the principal axis, 30cm from
the pole a concave mirror of focal length 7.5cm. Construct a ray
4. Object 0 between F and P
diagram to obtain the position size and nature of image (use a scale
1cm : 3cm)

Graph

Image formation by convex mirror

No matter the position of the object from the convex mirror, the
image formed is always virtual, diminished and upright.

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Questions
1. An object 4cm high is placed 2.4cm from concave mirror of focal
length 8cm. draw a ray diagram to find the position size and nature
of image. Scale 1cm = 2cm
2. An object of height 10cm is placed at a distance 60cm from a
convex mirror of focal length 20cm. by scale find the image
position, height, nature and magnification (scale 1cm : 5cm)
LINEAR MAGNIFICATION
This is the ratio of image height to the object height.
M = where – image height, – object height
OR
This is the ratio of image distance from the mirror to the object
distance from the mirror.
M= where v – image distance, u – object distance
Example 1
An object 10cm high is placed at distance of 20cm from a convex
mirror of focal length 10cm
i) Draw a ray diagram; locate the position of the image
ii) Calculate the magnification (1cm: 5cm)
Disadvantages
 It gives a false impression of the distance of an object from the
mirror
 The object is diminished.
b) Concave mirror
 Used as reflectors in head lamps, torches (i.e. parabolic
mirrors)
 Used as sharing and make-up mirrors
 Used by dentists to converge light to the tooth being
examined.
 Can be used in astronomical telescope (reflecting type)
 Can be used as solar concentrators.
(Solar concentrators are converging mirrors that reflect and
focus the sun’s heat to one point-the principal focus)
MEASURING FOCAL LENGTH OF A CONCAVE MIRROR
METHOD 1: Using illuminated object at c

USES OF CURVED MIRRORS

a) Convex mirrors
 Used as security mirrors in large shops and supermarkets.
 Used as reflectors in street lamps. These mirrors diverge light
over a wide area.
 They are used as rare view mirrors. This is because
i) They give a wide field of view
ii) They give upright images of the object
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 With the arrangement set as shown above, the mirror is

moved to and from the illuminated object until a sharp image
is formed on the screen alongside the object.
 The distance between the object and the mirror is measured.
 The experiment is repeated for several attempts and the
average value found. This is the radius of a curvature so the
focal length (f) is obtained from .

METHOD II: Using A Pin At C (No parallax method)

 An object pin is placed in front of a mounted concave mirror

so that its tip lies along the axis of the mirror.
 The position of the pin is adjusted until it coincides with its
image such that there is no parallax between the pin and its
image.
 The distance r of the pin from the mirror is measured. The
required focal length .