Notes Reflection
Laws of Reflection
(i) The incident ray, the reflected ray, the normal lie in the samne plane at
the point of incidence.
(ii) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
Rules for making ray diagrams by concave mirror :
(i) A ray parallel to the principal axis will pass through the principal focus,
atter reflection.
(ii) A ray passing through the principal focus of concave mirror will emerge
parallel to principal axis after reflection.
(iii) A ray of light passing through the centre of curvature of a concave
mirror is reflected back along the same path as it is a normally incident ray.
(iv) A ray incident obliquely to the principal axis of a concave mirror is
reflected obliquely making equal angle.
Image formation by a concave mirror for different positions of the object :
(Table from textbook)
Image formation by a convex mirror for different positions of the object :
(Table from textbook)
Mirror Formula :
1/u + 1/v = 1/f
Where,
v= Image distance
u = Object distance
f= Focal length
Magnification of Spherical Mirrors :
It is the ratio of the height of image to the height of object.
m = Height of image/ Height of object
m = hi/ ho
m = -v/u
If 'm' is negative, image is real.
If 'm' is positive, image is virtual.
If hi = ho, then m = 1, image is equal to object.
If hi > ho, then m > 1, image is enlarged.
If hi < ho, then m < 1, image is diminished.
Magnification of plane mirror is always + 1. '+'sign indicates virtual image.
'1' indicates that image is equal to object's size.
If 'm' is'+ve' and less than 1, it is a convex mirror.
If 'm' is '+ve' and more than 1, it is a concave mirror.
If 'm' is '-ve', it is a concave mirror.
Q.1. Define the following terms in the context of spherical mirrors:
(i) Pole
(ii) Centre of curvature
(iii) Radius of curvature
(iv)Principal focus
(v) Principal axis
Pole - Centre of the reflecting surface of the mirror.
Centre of curvature - The centre of the hollow sphere of which the reflecting
surface is a part.
Radius of curvature - The radius of the sphere of which the reflecting
surface of spherical mirror forms a part is called the radius of curvature of
the mirror.
Principal axis -Straight-line passing through the pole and the centre of
curvature of a spherical mirror.
Principal focus - Incident rays parallel to principal axis, after reflection,
either converge or appear to diverge from a fixed point on a the principal
axis called principal focus of the spherical mirror.
Q.2. Name the spherical mirror used as:
(a) Shaving mirror,
(b) Rear view mirror in vehicles.
(c) Reflector in search-lights.
(d) Headlights of a car
(e) Solar furnace
(a) A concave mirror is used as a shaving or make-up mirror because it
forms an erect and enlarged image of the face when it is held closer to the
face.
(b) A convex mirror always forms an erect, virtual and diminished image of
an object placed anywhere in front of it. Thus, convex mirrors enable the
driver to view much larger traffic behind him that would not be possible with
a plane mirror.
(c) Concave mirror is used because light from the bulb placed at the focus of
it gets reflected and produces a powerful parallel beam of light.
(d) Concave mirror is used because light from the bulb placed at the focus of
it gets reflected and produces a powerful parallel beam of light to illuminate
the road.
(e) Concave mirror has the property to converge the sunlight coming from
sun along with heat radiation at its focus. As a result, temperature at its
focus increases and the substance placed at the focal point gets heated to a
high temperature.
Q.3. Define the magnification as referred to spherical mirrors.
The relative extent to which the image of an object is magnified with respect
to object size. It is the ratio of size of the image to the size of object.
Q.4. How will you distinguish between a plane, concave and convex mirrors
without touching them?
We will look our face in each mirror, turn by turn.
(i) If the image formed is of same size as our face but laterally inverted for all
positions, then it is a plane mirror.
(ii) If the image formed is erect and enlarged initially but gets inverted as the
face is moved away, then it is a concave mirror.
(iii) If the image formed is erect and smaller in size for all positions, then it is
a convex mirror.
