Homework Notes

• If you are struggling with the homework, start

working on it early enough that you can come to
office hours if needed.

• You can go to the help room even when one of us

is not there, at least for the first half of the
course.

• Do not email me Wednesday night with

homework questions.
Chapter 3: Mirrors and Lenses
 Chapter 3: Mirrors and Lenses

• Mirrors • Lenses
– Spherical mirrors – Refraction
– Ray tracing – Converging rays
• Convex mirrors – Diverging rays
– Image formation
– Applications
• Concave mirrors
– Image formation
– Applications
 Reflection Review
• Recall our ray tracing of a flat mirror
• Recall that there are “special” rays that are
sufficient for locating the image
 Clicker Question
• Which shows the correct location, orientation,
and size for the image?

A) B) C)

D) E)
Spherical Mirrors
 What is the normal to a curved surface
and how is it used to find rays?
• To find the normal to a curved
surface at a point where a ray hits
that surface (and will be reflected
or refracted)
– First draw a tangent line to the curve
(or tangent plane to the surface)
– The normal is perpendicular to that
line or plane and going through the
point
– Once you have drawn the normal you
can draw the reflected or refracted
ray
 Ray Tracing & Spherical Mirrors
paraxial rays

radius of curvature

F C

Radius of Curvature: The radius of the sphere the mirror is “cut from”
Center of Curvature (C): The center of the sphere the mirror is cut from
Focal Point (F): The point where rays from a distance appear to converge
For a spherical mirror, the focal point is halfway between the surface
and the center of curvature
Paraxial Ray: A ray coming on to the mirror parallel to the axis
 Convex vs. Concave
• Spherical mirrors are drawn in two dimensions, so you have
to imagine the 3D mirror this line represents
• Both convex and concave mirrors obey the same law of
reflection, but they make different kinds of images

Convex Concave
 Sources of Paraxial Rays
• The rays coming from a distance source can be
considered approximately paraxial when they
reach a mirror

Convex mirror

• The rays from a nearby source, such as a candle

or bare light bulb, cannot be considered paraxial
 Special Rays: Convex Mirror

axis
F C

Ray 1 Rule:
All rays incident parallel to the axis are reflected so that they appear
to be coming from the focal point, F.
 Special Rays: Convex Mirror

axis
F C

Ray 2 Rule:
All rays that (when extended) pass through C are reflected back on
themselves
 Special Rays: Convex Mirror

axis
F C

Ray 3 Rule:
All rays that (when extended) pass through F are reflected back
parallel to the axis.
 Locating an Image: Convex Mirror

axis
F C

Image properties:
• virtual (behind the mirror)
• right-side up
• closer to the mirror than the object
• smaller than the object.
Compare to Flat Mirror

Image properties:
• virtual (behind the mirror)
• upside down
• the same distance from the mirror
as the object
• the same size as the object
 Clicker Question

• The image formed in a convex mirror is smaller

than the object. This would make a convex mirror
useful for which application?

A. Makeup or shaving mirror

B. Wide-angle mirror, such as on a car or a blind
intersection
C. A mirror in a clothing store dressing room
 Convex Mirrors
• Because the image is smaller than the object,
convex mirrors reflect from wider angles than flat
mirrors.
 Concave Mirrors

axis C F

Ray 1 Rule:
All rays incident parallel to the axis are reflected so that they pass
through the focal point, F.
 Concave Mirrors

axis C F

Ray 2 Rule:
All rays that pass through C are reflected back on themselves
 Concave Mirrors

axis C F

Ray 3 Rule:
All rays that pass through F are reflected back parallel to the axis.
 Image Formation: Concave Mirrors
Object location:
Between the center of curvature and the
focal point

C F

Image properties:
• real (in front of the mirror)
• upside down
• farther from the mirror than the object
• larger than the object.
 Concave Mirrors
Object location:
Between the surface and the focal point

C F
Image properties:
• virtual (behind the mirror)
• right-side up
• farther from the mirror than the object
• larger than the object.
 Concave Mirrors
Object location:
Past the center of curvature

C F
 Concave Mirrors: Clicker Question
Object location:
Past the center of curvature

Is the image C F

A. Real and magnified

B. Real and reduced
C. Virtual and magnified
D. Virtual and reduced
 Clicker Question

• The inside of a spoon bowl is a concave surface

with a radius of curvature of a couple of inches
(depending on the spoon). If you hold it about a
foot from your face, what will your face look like?
A. Normal size, upside down
B. Normal size, right side up
C. Smaller, upside down
D. Smaller, right side up
 Concave Mirrors: Application

Because rays coming in parallel, as from a very distant source, are

all reflected to the focal point, a receiver placed there will pick up
the waves received over the large area of the dish, instead of just
the small area of the receiver itself.
 Concave Mirrors: Application
• What if we put a light source at the
focal point of a concave mirror?
• All the rays emitted by the light go
through the focal point, and are
therefore reflected parallel to the
axis of the mirror.
Spherical Lenses
What if we don’t want to have to
look at a reflection to magnify or
reduce an image?
We can use refractive optics
instead (lenses)
 Convex Glass Surface

axis
F C

A concave surface is called “converging” because parallel rays

converge towards one another
 Convex Glass Surface

axis C F

The surface is converging for both air to glass rays and glass to air
rays
 Concave Glass Surface

axis C F

A concave surface is called “diverging” because parallel rays

diverge away from one another
 Concave Glass Surface

F C axis

Again, the surface is diverging for both air to glass rays and glass to
air rays