REFLECTION OF LIGHT

Reflection of Light
 The process of sending back light rays which falls on the
surface of an object is called REFLECTION of light
 Silver metal is one of the best reflectors of light.
 Mirrors we use on our dressing tables in our home are plane
mirrors.
 A ray of light is the straight line along which the light traveled
and a bundle of light rays is called a beam of light.
 Laws of Reflection of light
1. The angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection, and
2. The incident ray, the reflected ray and
the normal to the mirror at the point
of incidence all lie in the same plane.
 These laws of reflection are applicable
to all types of reflecting surfaces
including spherical surfaces
Real and Virtual images
 An image is formed when the light rays coming from an object meet at a point after
reflection from a mirror (or refraction from lens).
 The images are of two types

1. Real Images:- Real images are formed when rays of light that comes from an object (or
source) meets at a point after reflection from a mirror (or refraction from a lens). Real
images can be formed on a screen and can be seen with the eyes.
2. Virtual images:- Virtual image is an image in which the outgoing rays from an object do
not meet at a point. It will appear to meet at a point in or behind the optical device (i.e., a
mirror) but they do not actually meet after reflection from a mirror (or refraction from a
lens). A plane mirror always forms virtual images.
Characteristics of images formed by mirrors:-
 (a) Images formed by mirrors are always virtual
and erect
(b) Size of image is always equal to the size of
the object and the image is laterally inverted.
(c) The images formed by the plane mirror are
as far behind the mirror as the object in front of
the mirror.
 Lateral inversion:- If an object is placed in front
of the mirror, then the right side of the object
appears to be the left side and left side of the
object appears to be the right side of this image.
This change of sides of an object and its mirror
image is called lateral inversion.
Spherical Mirrors
 The reflecting surface of a spherical mirror
may be curved inwards or outwards.
Spherical mirrors are of two types
1. Concave mirror: - In a concave mirror
reflection of light takes place at the concave
surface or bent-in surface as shown below in the
•2. Convex mirror:- In a convex mirror
reflection of light takes place at the
convex surface or bent out surface as
shown below in the figure

Commonly used terms about Spherical mirrors :-

Principle focus and focal length of a Spherical Mirrors
•For understanding about principle focus and focus length of a spherical
mirror first consider the figure given below
Image Formation by Spherical mirrors

Rules for obtaining images formed by spherical mirrors

(1) Rule 1
A ray of light which is parallel to the principle axis of the mirror passes
through its focus after reflection from the mirror as shown below in the figure
(2) Rule 2
A ray of light passing through the center of curvature of the curvature of the concave mirror or directed in the direction of the center of
curvature of a convex mirror, is reflected back along the same path as shown below in the figure
(3) Rule 3
A ray passing through principle focus of a concave mirror or a ray which is
directed towards the principal focus of a convex mirror, becomes parallel
to the principle axis after reflection and is shown below in the figure
(4) Rule 4
A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis, towards a point P (pole of the
mirror), on the concave mirror or a convex mirror, is reflected obliquely. The
incident and reflected rays follow the laws of reflection at the point of
incidence (point P), making equal angles with the principal axis and is
shown below in the figure
 FORMATION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF IMAGES BY A CONCAVE
MIRROR

       Different types of images can be formed by a concave mirror by changing the

position of the object from the concave mirror. Therefore different types of images
are formed when the object is placed

    1. At the infinity

    2. Beyond the centre of curvature
    3. At the centre of curvature
    4. Between centre of curvature and principal focus
    5. At the principal focus
    6. Between the principal focus and pole
1. Image formed by a concave mirror when the object
is placed at infinity

       When the object is placed at infinity, the two rays AB

and DE running parallel to the principal axis get reflected at
point B and E respectively and intersect each other at the
principal focus F on the principal axis. Therefore, in this
case the image is formed at the principal focus which is
highly diminished, real and inverted.
2. When the object is placed beyond the
centre of curvature

       When the object AB is placed beyond

the centre of curvature then a ray of light AD
which is parallel to the principal axis and
another ray AE which pass through the
centre of curvature intersect each other after
reflection at point A’ between the focus and
centre of curvature. Thus the image formed
is between the principal focus F and centre
of curvature C, diminished, real and inverted.
3. When the object is placed at the
centre of curvature

       When the object AB is placed at the

centre of curvature C, then a ray of light AD
which is parallel to the principal axis and
another ray AE which pass through the
principal focus intersect each other after
reflection at point A’ just below the position
of the object. Thus the image formed in this
case is at the centre of curvature, of same
size as the object, real and inverted
4. When the object is placed between
the centre of curvature and principal
focus

       When the object AB is placed

between the centre of curvature and
principal focus, then the ray AD running
parallel to the principal axis and another
ray AE passing through the principal focus
F intersect each other at point A’ beyond
the centre of curvature. Thus the image
formed in this case is beyond C, enlarged,
real and inverted.
5. When the object is placed at principal focus

       When the object AB is placed at the principal

focus, then the parallel ray of light AD passes
through the principal focus F giving us the reflected
ray DX. And the second ray of light AE passing
through the centre of curvature C is reflected along
the same path forming the reflected ray EY. In this
case, both the reflected rays i.e. DX and EY
become parallel to each other so these rays cannot
intersect each other and the image will be formed
at infinity. The image formed in this case will be
highly enlarged, real and inverted.
6. When the object is placed between
the principal focus and the pole

       When the object AB is placed

between the principal focus and the
pole, then the parallel ray of light AD
passes through the focus F giving us
the reflected ray DX. And the second
ray AE passing through the centre of
curvature C is reflected along the same
path forming the reflected ray EY.
 Table: Summary of images formed by a concave mirror

S No. Position of Object Position of Image Size of Image Nature of Image

1. At infinity At the focus F Highly diminished Real and inverted

Beyond the centre of

2. Between F and C Diminished Real and inverted
curvature C

3. At the centre of curvature C At C Same size Real and inverted

4. Between C and F Beyond C Enlarged Real and inverted

5. At focus F At infinity Highly enlarged Real and inverted

Sign convention for reflection by spherical mirrors
Reflection of light by spherical mirrors follow a set of sign conventions called the New Cartesian Sign
Convention. In this convention, the pole (P) of the mirror is taken as the origin. The principal axis of the
mirror is taken as the x-axis (X'X) of the coordinate system. The conventions are as follows -

 The object is always placed to the left of the mirror. This implies that the light from the object falls
on the mirror from the left-hand side.
 All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.
 All the distances measured to the right of the origin (along + x-axis) are taken as positive while
those measured to the left of the origin (along - x-axis) are taken as negative.
 Distances measured perpendicular to and above the principal axis (along + y-axis) are taken as
positive.
 Distances measured perpendicular to and below the principal axis (along -y-axis) are taken as
negative.