Student

Laboratory Guide

Physics

Optics

Objectives:

SPHERICAL MIRRORS To conceptualize the behavior

of light in natural contexts
through different theories.

To analyze geometrical optics in

the vision process within daily
and scientific contexts.
You work in an amusement park where a new ride called “The Hall of
Mirrors” is being designed. Here, people will play with the images formed
in spherical mirrors. You have received the mirrors without information
from the manufacturers and the ride designers need it to place the mirrors
correctly. Find their characteristics and give the information to the ride
designers. RELATED RESOURCES:

Learning Unit:

Optics

Laboratories:

Light and Optical Phenomena;

Dispersion and Synthesis of
Light; Converging Lens;
Geometrical Optics – Free
Practice.
 LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

Concave and
An electronic eye Object 1 Object 2
convex mirrors

PROCEDURE

• Go to the “Optics” virtual topic and press the

“Spherical Mirrors” simulation button (Figure 1).
Then, press “OPEN.”

• Read the challenge. Then press to exit the

challenge introduction window and access the
laboratory (Figure 2).
Fig. 1

• During the laboratory, press the “Information”

button to read the challenge, the procedures,
or the equations as required. Press the “Help”
button to check the FAQs. If you want to stop
and restart from the beginning, press the “Trash
Can” button . Pressing the “Pencil” button
will open the data log. The workstation includes
a calculator. Just press the “Calculator” button
to see it. The “Notebook” button will allow Fig. 2
you to add notes or observations (Figure 3).

1. Laboratory Equipment and Supplies

• A concave mirror
• A convex mirror
• Test objects (candle, Einstein avatar)
• An electronic eye Fig. 3
• A digital camera
2. Optical Equipment Setup

• Drag the concave mirror to the optical table

and place the object you want to use (Figure
4).

• Hover the electronic eye over the mirror to

determine the frontal distance between the
object and the mirror. Place the object at the
required distance according to the data log. Fig. 4

• The enlarged view will help you determine the

size of the image in the mirror using the metric
scale (Figure 5).

• Take a photo of the image captured by

pressing the “Camera” button on the screen
(Figure 6).

• After finding the size of the image captured,

use the equations available in the Fig. 5
“Information” button to determine the mirror
characteristics.

• Repeat the procedure with the convex mirror.

3. Data Log

• Press the “Pencil” button to see the data

log.
Fig. 6
• In this practice, you need to log the data
related to the focal length, the radius of
curvature, image magnification at a distance
required, and image characteristics for both
mirrors.

• After logging the data, press “CHECK” to

verify if the data are correct (Figure 7).

Fig. 7
 4. Additional Questions

• Press the “Notebook” button to answer the

additional questions for this laboratory practice
(Figure 8).

• Press the “Arrow” buttons to

turn pages.
Fig. 8
• Press the “Trash Can” and “Plus” buttons
at the bottom of the notebook to delete
or add pages as needed.

5. Conceptual Questions and Laboratory Report

• Go to the assessment section and answer the

conceptual questions. After that, you can
generate the laboratory report (Figure 9).

Fig. 9

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

Students must answer the additional questions in the notebook. See sample answers below.

1. What phenomenon occurs with spherical mirrors? Explain your answer.

2. What is the main difference between a concave mirror and a convex mirror? Explain your
answer.

3. What causes convergence and divergence in spherical mirrors? Explain your answer.

4. Mention some applications of spherical mirrors.

 CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS

Single-answer multiple-choice questions

Situation:

The image shows two spherical mirrors (1 and 2) and a test object for observation. Use this information to
answer the following questions:

1. What types of spherical mirrors are shown in the image?

a) Mirror 1 is concave, and Mirror 2 is convex.

b) Both mirrors are convex.
c) Both mirrors are concave.
d) Mirror 1 is convex, and Mirror 2 is concave.

2. The image captured in Mirror 1 is:

a) Real and not inverted.

b) Virtual and inverted.
c) Virtual and not inverted.
d) Real and inverted.

3. The image captured in Mirror 2 is:

a) Virtual and inverted.

b) Virtual and not inverted.
c) Real and not inverted.
d) Real and inverted.