Experiment 8

Aim: To find the value of v for different values of u in case of a concave mirror
and to find the focal length.

Materials Required: The materials required for this experiment:

A concave mirror. A mirror holder, Screen A half-metre scale

Theory: We use mirror formula for the determination of focal length.

Mirror formula is given as:

1/f = 1/v + 1/u

From the above equation, we get the focal length as:

Where,

 f is the focal length of a concave mirror

 u is the distance of object needle from the pole of the mirror
 v is the distance of image needle from the pole of the mirror
The value of f will be negative for concave mirror . This is according to the sign-
convention, u and v have negative values.

Ray Diagram
Procedure
To determine the focal length
1.by distant object method (rough method ):

 Fix the given concave mirror on the stand and place it on a table, facing
towards a distant object.
 Arrange the screen on the table so that the image of the distant object is
obtained on it.
 Measure the distance between mirror and screen using a metre scale. It
can be taken as the focal length (f) of the mirror.

2.By u-v method :

 Using the focal length obtained by distant object method

 set the values of u (distance between mirror and object
 Place the mirror in front of an illuminated candle . It acts as the object.
 Now, fix the mirror at the distance u from the candle .
 Place the screen on the table facing the mirror in such a way that the
reflected image lies on the screen.
 We can adjust the position of the screen to get the clear image of the
candle .
 Keeping the distance between object and mirror fixed, adjust the position
of screen in order to get the clear image of the object.
 Record the values of u and v in a tabular column.
  Calculate the focal length of the given concave mirror by using the
relation, f = uv/(u+v).
 Repeat the experiment for different values of u and in each time, measure
v and record it in the tabular column.
 Calculate the focal length (f) of the concave mirror each time.
 Calculate the mean of all focal lengths to get the correct focal length of
the given concave mirror.
 The focal length of the mirror can also be measured graphically by plotting
graphs between u & v, and 1/u & 1/v.

Observations

Distance between the mirror and

1/u 1/v
No. Object, u Image, v
(cm-1) (cm-1)
(cm) (cm) (cm)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Mean, f = ………. cm

Calculations:
1.Calculate the value of focal length (f) each time and find its mean.
Plot a graph with u along X axis and v along Y axis by taking same scale for
drawing the X and Y axes. Draw the bisector OA and join OC and OB.
Thus, OC=OB= 2f. Calculate the focal length from this.
 from u-v graph,
OB =….....….cm
OD = ...……..cm
f= (OB +OD )/4
= ........... cm

3. By 1/u-1/v graph
Plot a graph with 1/u along X axis and 1/v along Y axis by taking same scale for
drawing the X and Y axes. The graph is a straight line intercepting the axes at A
and B. Then OA=OB= 1/f. Calculate the focal length from this.
From 1/u – 1/v graph,
OA =1/f =…………cm
OB =1/f =…...…... cm

= ............ cm

Results
The focal length “ f “ of the given concave mirror,
1.By u-v method from Tabular form = ……..cm
2.From u-v graph = .…….. cm
3.From 1/u- 1/v graph = ……...cm