Reflection of Light and Mirrors

Reflection of Light
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Learning Competencies
• Predict the qualitative characteristics
(orientation, type, and magnification) of
images formed by plane and curved
mirrors and lenses
• Identify ways in which the properties of
mirrors and lenses determine their use
in optical instruments (e.g., cameras and
binoculars)
Reflection of Light
• Reflection is the bouncing back of
light into the same medium it has been
traveling after striking a surface.
• The ray that strikes the surface is called
the incident ray.
• The ray that rebounds from the surface
is called the reflected ray.
Reflection of Light
• A line perpendicular to the surface at
the point of incidence is called the
normal.
• The angle between the incident ray and
the normal is called the angle of
incidence; that between the reflected
ray and the normal is called the angle of
reflection.
Reflection of Light

Reflection of Light
• When light strikes a surface, some of it
is reflected in accordance with certain
laws.
• How is reflection of light evidenced in
nature?

The Laws of Reflection
Two Types of Reflection
- Regular or specular reflection-
the reflection from smooth
surface.
- Diffuse reflection- reflection
from rough surfaces
With diffuse reflection, your eye sees
reflected light at all angles. With specular
reflection (from a mirror), your eye must be
in the correct position.

When light reflects from a rough surface,
the law of reflection still holds, but the
angle of incidence varies. This is called
diffuse reflection.

Light very often travels in straight lines. We
represent light using rays, which are straight
lines emanating from an object. This is an
idealization, but is very useful for geometric
optics.

1. The angle of reflection (that the ray
makes with the normal to a surface)
equals the angle of incidence.

2. The incident ray, the normal, and
the reflected ray lie on one plane.

When a group of parallel rays strikes a
smooth flat surface, the reflected rays are
parallel to each other. Reflection from a
mirror is regular.

When a group of parallel rays strikes a rough
surface, the normal line at the point of incidence is
different for each ray. Consequently, when the
individual ray is reflected from the surface
according to the laws of reflection, the group of
rays will be scattered in all directions. The
reflected rays cannot be parallel to each other.

Sample Problem 1:
A ray of light is incident on a surface at
33 degrees from the normal. Find the
angle between the incident ray and the
reflected ray.

Sample Problem 2:
A ray of light strikes a surface and is
reflected so that the angle between the
incident ray and the reflected ray is 30
degrees.
(a) What is the angle of incidence?
(b) What is the angle of reflection?

 Diffuse reflection is more
common than regular reflection.
Rough surfaces scatter the light
incident upon them.
 Examples are walls, ceiling, floors
and most of the objects inside our
rooms except mirrors

 Specular or regular reflection is an
important principle in a reflecting
telescope.
What will happen if there is no
regular reflection?
 Light colors reflect more light
than dark ones.

Mirrors and Reflection of Light
A mirror is not necessarily a silvered plate
of glass. Rather, it is any surface that is
smooth enough to produce regular reflection
of light incident upon it.
Types of Mirror
Plane Mirror- one with a flat surface. They
are used by architects or interior designers to
make a room seem bigger.
Spherical Mirror- has reflecting surface taken
from the surface of a sphere. It may be concave
or convex.
Concave mirror- curves inwards in the direction
of the incident rays. Ex. Shaving mirrors, make
up mirrors, dentist’s mirrors
Convex mirror- bulges outward to the incident
rays. Ex. Christmas ball, rearview mirrors in
cars, wide-range supermarket’s mirrors

Plane Mirror Images
What you see when you look into a plane (flat) mirror is
an image, which appears to be behind the mirror.

Plane Mirror Images
The image formed by a mirror may be
real or virtual.
A real image of an object is formed by
actual intersection of reflected rays. It is
formed in front of the mirror and is
always upside down relative to the
object. It can be projected on a screen
placed in front of the mirror.
Plane Mirror Images
A virtual image is formed behind the
mirror and is upright relative to the
object. There is no actual intersection of
reflected rays. But if we extend the rays
as if they came from behind the mirror,
there is an intersection. Note that this
intersection is not formed by actual
reflected rays but by the extended rays.
Plane Mirror Images
Hence, virtual images cannot be
projected on a screen. Real and
virtual images may be bigger than
the object, the same size as the
object, or smaller than the object.

Plane Mirror Images
Images formed by plane mirrors are
always virtual, upright, the same size as
the object, the same distance behind the
mirror as the object is in front of the
mirror, and laterally reversed.
Laterally reversed means that the left of
the object becomes the right of the
image, and vice versa.
Plane Mirror Images

Plane Mirror Images
This is called a virtual image, as the
light does not go through it. The distance
of the image from the mirror is equal to
the distance of the object from the
mirror.

Plane Mirror Images
Sample Problem 1:
Plane mirrors in a beauty salon are
arranged in such a way that they face
each other. Suppose that two mirrors are
2.0 m apart and an object is placed 0.5 m
from one of the mirrors. Find the
distances of the first image formed by
each mirror.
Plane Mirror Images
Sample Problem 2:
Two plane mirrors, mirror A and mirror
B, face each other. An object is placed
somewhere between them. Mirror A
forms an image of this object 30 cm
behind it. Mirror B forms an image of
this object 90 cm behind it. How far
apart are the two mirrors?
Spherical Mirrors Terminology
Center of curvature (C)- the center of the
sphere from where the mirror was taken.
Vertex (V)- the center of the mirror. It is
sometimes called the pole of the mirror.
Radius of curvature (R)- the radius of the
sphere. It is the distance between C and V.
Principal axis, or optical axis- a straight line
joining C and V.
Aperture (AB)- refers to the width of the
mirror.
Principal focus (F)- the point where the
reflected rays meet as in the case of a
converging mirror (concave mirror), or the
point where the reflected rays seem to come
from behind a diverging mirror (convex
mirror).

Focal length (f)- the distance from the pole to
the principal focus. Since the principal focus
is midway between C and V, the focal length
is one-half of the radius of curvature.


Spherical Mirrors
 When parallel rays strike a concave
mirror, the rays will be reflected and
meet at a single point– the principal
focus. Hence, we say that concave
mirror is converging. A convex mirror
is a diverging mirror because when
parallel rays strike it, the reflected
rays spread out and never come to a
focus.
Spherical Mirrors
 However, if the reflected rays were
extended, they would appear or seem to
come from a single point behind the
mirror. This point is also called the
principal focus of the convex mirror.
Since there is an actual meeting of
reflected rays in concave mirrors, the
principal focus is real. On the other hand,
the principal focus for a convex mirror is
virtual.
Spherical Mirrors

Spherical Mirror Images
Spherical mirrors are shaped like sections of a sphere,

and may be reflective on either the inside (concave) or
outside (convex)

Rays coming from a faraway object are effectively

parallel.

Parallel rays striking a spherical mirror do not all

converge at exactly the same place if the curvature of the
mirror is large; this is called spherical aberration.

If the curvature is small, the focus is much more precise;

the focal point is where the rays converge.

 Convex Mirror Images
- The image formed by a convex
mirror is never real because the
reflected rays spread out from the
mirror. Images formed by a convex
mirror are always virtual, upright,
and smaller than the object.
 Concave Mirror Images
- A concave mirror can produce real
or virtual images, depending on the
distance between the mirror and the
object. The image may also be larger
than, the same as, or smaller than the
object.
Type of Image Formed by Concave Mirrors at Different Object Positions
Location of Location of Characteristics of Image

Object Image
Very far (at At F Real, inverted, very small
infinity)
Beyond C Between C Real, inverted, smaller than the object
and F
At C At C Real, inverted, same size as the object
Between C Beyond C Real, inverted, bigger than the object

and F
At F At infinity No image formed because all reflected
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. rays are parallel
If an object is inside the focal point, its image will be

upright, larger, and virtual.

If an object is outside the center of curvature of a

concave mirror, its image will be inverted, smaller, and
real.

For a convex mirror, the

image is always virtual,
upright, and smaller.

Ray Tracing for Spherical Mirrors
Using geometry, we find that the focal length is half the

radius of curvature:
(23-1)
Spherical aberration can be avoided by using a parabolic

reflector; these are more difficult and expensive to make,
and so are used only when necessary, such as in research
telescopes.

We use ray diagrams to determine where an image will

be. For mirrors, we use three key rays, all of which begin
on the object:
1. A ray parallel to the axis; after reflection it passes
through the focal point
2. A ray through the focal point; after reflection it is
parallel to the axis
3. A ray perpendicular to the mirror; it reflects back on
itself


The intersection of these three rays gives the position of

the image of that point on the object. To get a full image,
we can do the same with other points (two points suffice
for many purposes).

Mirror Equation and Magnification
Geometrically, we can derive an equation that relates the

object distance, image distance, and focal length of the
mirror:

We can also find the magnification (ratio of image height

to object height).
(23-3)
The negative sign indicates that the image is inverted.

This object is between the center of curvature and the
focal point, and its image is larger, inverted, and real.
Magnification refers to the size of the image relative to
the object.

Magnification is equal to 1, the image

is the same size as the object. If M is
less than 1, the image is smaller than
the object. If M is greater than 1, the
image is bigger than the object.

Reflection of Light and Mirrors

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Reflection of Light

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Spherical mirrors are shaped like sections of a sphere,

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Rays coming from a faraway object are effectively

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Parallel rays striking a spherical mirror do not all

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

If the curvature is small, the focus is much more precise;

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Location of Location of Characteristics of Image

Between C Beyond C Real, inverted, bigger than the object

If an object is inside the focal point, its image will be

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

If an object is outside the center of curvature of a

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

For a convex mirror, the

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Using geometry, we find that the focal length is half the

Spherical aberration can be avoided by using a parabolic

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

We use ray diagrams to determine where an image will

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

The intersection of these three rays gives the position of

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Geometrically, we can derive an equation that relates the

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

We can also find the magnification (ratio of image height

The negative sign indicates that the image is inverted.

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Magnification is equal to 1, the image

© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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