Concave Mirrors
The Anatomy of a Curved Mirror Thus far in this unit, our focus has been the reflection of light off flat surfaces and the formation of images by plane mirrors.…
Other Multiple Mirror Systems
Besides right angle mirror systems, there is a wealth of other multiple mirror systems that involve two or more mirrors. If two plane mirrors are placed together on one of…
Right Angle Mirrors
Thus far we have focused on the images formed by a single plane mirror. Occasionally, there are optical systems that consist of two or more mirrors. One such system that…
What Portion of a Mirror is Required?
In the previous part of this lesson, the use of ray diagrams were introduced and illustrated. Ray diagrams can be used to determine where a person must sight along a mirror…
Ray Diagrams
The line of sight principle suggests that in order to view an image of an object in a mirror, a person must sight along a line at the image of the object.…
Image Characteristics
As discussed in the previous section of Lesson 2, an image location is the location in space where all the reflected light appears to diverge from. Since light from the object appears to…
Image Formation in Plane Mirrors
Why is an Image Formed? In Lesson 1 of this unit of the Physics Classroom Tutorial, the manner in which light reflected off objects in order to allow us to see them…
Specular vs. Diffuse Reflection
It was mentioned earlier in this lesson that light reflects off surfaces in a very predictable manner - in accordance with the law of reflection. Once a normal to the surface at the…
The Law of Reflection
Light is known to behave in a very predictable manner. If a ray of light could be observed approaching and reflecting off of a flat mirror, then the behavior of the light…
The Line of Sight
In the first section of Lesson 1, it was stated, "without light, there would be no sight." Everything that can be seen is seen only when light from that object travels…
