Pampanga High School

High School Boulevard, Barangay Lourdes,

City of San Fernando, Pampanga

Mirrors and Lights: Investigating Angles

and Other Properties

Marin, Jeremy Louis D.

Paldeng, Christian P.

Pangilinan, Cyrill Rap S.

Francisco, Jeanel Kiella B.

Lim, Emira Francesca P.

Manalili, Kimberly Anne N.

12 – STEM B

Mrs. J-Lyn A. Syhuat-Rivera

General Physics II Teacher

 INTRODUCTION

A mirror is a reflective surface that produces a clear image; it is usually made of glass

coated with metal amalgam and there are different types of mirrors, these include plane mirrors,

concave mirrors, and convex mirrors. Plane mirrors have planar reflective surfaces that reflect

light rays in the same order as the mirror is approached as supported by the Law of Reflection.

Concave mirrors are used in focusing light because they reflect light inward to one focal point.

They show different images according to the distance between the mirror and the object. Convex

mirrors are curved in which the reflective surface bulge towards the light source. This makes them

unideal to be used to focus light since they reflect light outwards but on the other hand, they cover

a wider field of view and everything appears smaller when reflected (Rimando , 2017).

On the other hand, according to Elert (2015), light is dual in nature as it can act as either a

wave or particle. As an electromagnetic wave, it is possible for it to be seen by the typical human

eye in the form of visible light, allowing color vision, light and depth perception. Light can travel

through a vacuum, and has properties including reflection, diffraction, reflection, polarization,

total internal reflection, interference, and dispersion. Once it hits a surface, such as a mirror, light

may reflect or bounce off.

The study was done last February 07, 2019 inside the Science Laboratory at the Main

Building of Pampanga High School and the study only focused on the properties of selected

mirrors – plane, concave, convex – that were provided to the researchers. The aim is to find a

pattern within the conditions set on the variables such as the angle, location, distance, number of

reflections, and size of the image. In addition, this study would help highlight and open up greater
horizons with the properties of different kinds of mirrors, adding more basis to the vast knowledge

regarding these experiments while emphasizing the different applications of each mirror.

Beneficiaries include students, learning how these mirrors affect their everyday living, teachers

with their teaching aids, primarily the projector, and the innovators and manufacturers who focus

on developing beneficial advancements on the said field of study.

Specifically, the study aims to provide answers to these following questions:

1. How many reflections are produced when projected with the mirrors in different angles?

2. How does the image appear when subjected into the different mirrors and how does it differ

from its original appearance?

3. Would there be significant changes on the orientation of the rays from a flashlight passing

through a diffraction grating to the two sizes of curved mirrors?

 METHODOLOGY

A. Preparation and Gathering of Materials

The materials needed for the experiment were ruler, protractor, one-peso coin, and

pencil. The teacher provided the set of experiment box containing the mirrors that will be

used in the experiment.

B. Orientation of the Text on the Image

The researchers chose the word “REPUBLIKA” engraved on the surface of a one

peso coin to be the specific text that will be experimented on – it will be subjected into the

plane, concave, and convex mirrors. The researchers observed the text on the different

images and the text on the original object, data was gathered.

C. Relationship of Varying Angles and Number of Images Formed

Two plane mirrors were placed adjacent with each other, forming a 180° angle and

a one-peso coin was placed in between of the two plane mirrors. For the next trial, the angle

of the two plane mirrors was reduced to 140°. For the third trial, the angle of the two plane

mirrors was reduced to 90°. For the fourth trial, the angle of the two plane mirrors was

reduced to 60°. For the fifth trial, the angle of the two plane mirrors was reduced to 40°.

For the sixth trial, the angle of the two plane mirrors was reduced to 20°. And lastly, for

the seventh trial, the two plane mirrors were placed parallel, facing each other and the one
 peso coin was still in between of the two mirrors. The researchers observed the experiment

and data was gathered.

D. Distance of Two Different Curved Mirrors between the Diffraction Grating

Two trials were done in total upon doing this part of the experiment, the first trial

involved the use of a curved mirror which looks like it has been cutout from a smaller circle

and the second one involved the use of a curved mirror which looks like it has been cutout

from a bigger circle. The commonalities of the two trials were the distance, number of

grated lines on the diffraction gating and the flashlight used: the distance was 2.5 inches

between the curved mirrors and the diffraction grating, the grated lines were three in total,

and the flashlight came from an Oppo phone.

E. Proper Disposal

There were no disposed materials during the undertaking because all materials were

kept and could be used on future purposes.

F. Risk and Safety

Mirrors are fragile materials and could be proven quite dangerous if not handled

correctly. Broken mirror's sharp edges could wound someone if not carefully disposed.

Scissors can also be dangerous to us because they are quite sharp. The researchers took

caution when handling the plane mirrors and the scissors. Since the experiment was made

inside the laboratory, the researchers were careful while doing the experiment because

there were a lot of fragile materials inside the laboratory.

 RESULTS

Text on the Image

Type of Mirror Text on the One Peso Coin Reflected by the Mirror
Plane “REPUBLIKA” “REPUBLIKA”
Concave “REPUBLIKA” “AKILBUPER”

Convex “REPUBLIKA” “REPUBLIKA”

Table 1. The relationship of the type of mirror from the original text to their reflected images.

When the text “REPUBLIKA” engraved on the surface of a one peso coin was subjected

upon reflection on the different kinds of mirrors, results varied from plane and convex to concave.

When the text was faced on a plane mirror, the image was the same with the original object, the

same thing went with the convex mirror. On the other hand, when the text was faced on a concave

mirror, the image was reversed from “REPUBLIKA” to “AKILBUPER.”

Angle Number of coins

(including the original coin)
180° 2
140° 3
90° 4
60° 6
40° 9
20° 15
0° (Parallel to each other) Infinite
Table 2: The data gathered from the experiment on the number of images formed from varying

angles
 When the angle of the two mirrors was 180°, two images were produced. Three images

were produced when the angle was 140°. Four images were produced when the angle was 90°. Six

images were produced when the angle was 60°. Nine images were produced when the angle was

40°. Fifteen images were produced when the angle was 20°. And infinite images were produced

when the mirrors were faced to each other or when the angle was 0. °On the experiment on the

number of images formed, as the angle of the two mirrors decreases, the number of coins reflected

increases.

Size of Curved Mirror Reflected Rays

Smaller Curved Mirror Collected

Bigger Curved Mirror Dispersed

Table 3: The data gathered from the experiment on the reflected rays caused by the curved

mirrors and diffraction grating

The rays reflected from the smaller curved mirror were more collected as the researchers

have observed from the experiment while the rays from a bigger curved mirror were more

dispersed.
 DISCUSSION

Overall, the experiment was able to prove the basic properties of each kind of mirror as

well as the phenomena occurring when different objects were subjected upon reflection. Moreover,

with the use of different sets of equipment, the researchers were able to expand their horizons on

this specific field for they were able to experience the experiment first-hand.

In line with all the experiments done, these findings would help answer the specific

questions stated above.

A mirror reflects everything in front of it including another mirror. Whenever you place

two mirrors at a specific angle, you increase the number of reflected images you can see.

Depending on the angle you choose, you can see a number of unbroken reflections and one or

more composite or partial reflections (Gomez, 2017). A mirror reflects everything in front of it

including another mirror. Whenever you place two mirrors at a specific angle, you increase the

number of reflected images you can see. Depending on the angle you choose, you can see a number

of unbroken reflections and one or more composite or partial reflections (Gomez, 2017). On the

second experiment, the number of coins varied depending on the angles of the plane mirrors.

On the first experiment, three sets of different mirrors were put into experiment, the

researchers had the same text that had been used and two results varied from the other one. Plane

and convex mirrors had the same image with its original one while the concave had a reversed

image, concluding that an image may be different from its original appearance.
 Lastly, there is a significant difference on the rays reflected depending on the type of curved

mirror used. It turned out that the smaller the curved mirror, the more collected the rays were and

the bigger the curved mirror, the more dispersed the rays were observed.
 APPENDIX

Positioning the
mirrors at
varying
degrees

Using the curved mirrors and the diffraction grating

Concave Mirror Convex Mirror

Plane Mirror
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