Plane Mirrors
The most typical mirrors are flat and are referred to as “plane mirrors.” A fine layer of silver nitrate or aluminum is deposited behind a flat piece of glass to construct plane mirrors.
When a light beam strikes a plane mirror, the light ray is reflected in such a way that it makes an equal angle with the incident ray that is, the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.
Concave and Convex Mirrors
Mirrors are surfaces that reflect almost all types of incident light rays that hit their surface. The mirror can have either a plane or a curved surface. On this basis, mirrors are divided into two: Spherical Mirrors and Plane Mirrors. Plane mirrors simply mirror having plain and polished reflecting surfaces while Spherical mirrors have curved reflecting surfaces. Based on the curved reflecting surface spherical mirrors are further divided into two: Concave and Convex Mirrors.
In concave mirrors, the reflection takes place from the inner surface of the spherical mirror. The image formed by the concave mirrors is real and inverted. However, in the case of convex mirrors, the reflection takes place from the outer surface of the spherical mirror. The image formed by the convex mirrors is virtual and erect.
Table of contents
- Definition
- Types of Mirror
- Plane Mirror
- Spherical Mirror
- Important Terms of Spherical Mirror
- Type of Spherical Mirror
- Concave Mirror
- Convex Mirror
- Mirror Formula
- Sign Convention for Spherical Mirror
- Solved Examples
- Faqs