Spherical Mirrors

What are Mirrors?

A mirror is a reflective surface that reflects light and creates a real or imaginary image....

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....

Spherical Mirrors

The curved surface we see of a shining spoon can be considered a curved mirror. The most widely used type of curved mirror is the spherical mirror....

Important Terms Used in Spherical Mirrors

Pole: The midpoint or the center point of the spherical mirror. It is represented by capital P. All the measurements are made from it only. Aperture: An aperture of a mirror is a point from which the reflection of light actually takes place or happens. It also gives an idea about the size of the mirror. Principal axis: An imaginary line that passes through the optical center and from the center of curvature of a spherical mirror. All the measurements are based on this line. Centre of Curvature: The point in the center of the mirror surface that passes through the curve of the mirror and has the same tangent and curvature at that point. It is represented by the capital letter C. Radius of Curvature: It is considered as the linear distance between the pole and the center of curvature. It is represented by the capital letter R, Principal Focus: Principal Focus can be called the Focal Point also. It is present on the axis of a mirror where the rays of light parallel to the principal axis converge or appear to converge or diverge after reflection. Focus: It is any given point on the principal axis where light rays parallel to the principal axis will converge or appear to converge after getting reflected from the mirror....

Types of Spherical Mirrors

Spherical Mirrors are categorized into two types:...

Concave Mirror

If a hollow sphere is cut into some parts and the outer surface of the cut part is painted, then it turns out to be a mirror with its inner surface as the reflecting surface. This makes a concave mirror....

Image Formation by Concave Mirror and their ray diagrams

When the object is placed at infinity...

Convex Mirror

If the cut part of the hollow sphere is painted from the inside, then its outer surface becomes the reflecting surface. This mirror is known as a convex mirror. A spherical mirror having its reflecting surface curved outwards is known to be a convex mirror....

Image Formation by Convex Mirror and their ray diagrams

Two possibilities of the position of the object are possible in the case of a convex mirror, which is when the object is at infinity and the object is between infinity and the pole of a convex mirror....

Mirror Formula

To do the sums related to the spherical mirrors, the formula used is known as the mirror formula. It is used to calculate the focal length, image distance, object distance, and also magnification or any other thing required. We usually put the formula first and then put the signs so as to do the sums to minimize any error which can be generated....

Sign Conventions for Spherical Mirrors

Usually, if the object is located on the left side of the principal axis from the mirror then the object distance is taken negatively.  While if it is located on the right side it is taken to be positive.  The sign of focal length depends on the type of mirror we are using, as for the concave mirror it is negative and for the convex mirror on the other hand is positive always.  It is to be mentioned again that we have to follow the sign conventions strictly to get the correct answer.  Heights which are above the principal axis are positive and below are negative....

Solved Examples on Concave and Convex Mirrors

Example 1: What is the image distance in the case of a concave mirror if the object distance is 4 cm? It is given that the focal length of the mirror is 2 cm....

FAQs on Concave and Convex Mirrors

Q1: Which mirror is used by the dentist?...