SCIENCE

Quarter 2- Module 4
Light: Mirrors
What’s New
How do you see yourself in a mirror? How do you compare the way you look and the way your image
look? Can you explain how your image is formed on the mirror? This new lesson will lead you to the answer to
these questions.
Light Reflection Defined
Reflection is the turning back of light rays when it hits a shiny surface like a mirror.
The Laws of Reflection:
There are two laws of reflection:

• The angle of incident ray is equal to the angle of reflected ray.

• The angle between the normal line and the reflected ray is the angle of reflection.
The Two Kinds of Rays:
• Incident ray is the ray of light approaching the mirror.
• Reflected ray is the ray of light which leaves the mirror.
Normal Line:
Normal line is an imaginary line that can be drawn perpendicular to the surface of the mirror and used
as reference point in determining the angle of reflection and angle of incidence.
What is It
Reflection is the bouncing of light rays when it hits a surface like a plane mirror. Plane mirrors exhibits
regular reflection where the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. All plane shiny surfaces exhibit
this kind of reflection. Irregular or diffused reflection illuminates shaded areas such as under the trees and inside
buildings. This is observed in objects with irregular surfaces such as rocks, buildings etc.
The first law of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. The angle
is measured between the normal line and the incident ray while the angle of reflection is measured between the
normal line and the reflected ray. The arrowhead shows the direction of light.
The second law states that the normal line, incident ray and reflected ray all lie in the same plane. That
means, what you see on the mirror is an image which appears to be at the back of the mirror.
The characteristics of images formed by plane mirrors is describe in terms of type of image, orientation,
location and size. For plane mirrors, the type of image is virtual formed behind. Virtual image is an image
formed when an outgoing ray from an object always diverge (move apart). The image you see when you are
looking at yourself in a plane mirror is virtual. This image is formed by extending the light rays behind the
mirror. The image orientation is erect, laterally inverted
The image is located at the same distance from the mirror as the object distance. The image formed is of
the same size as the object. In other words, the image and the object in plane mirrors has the same characteristics
except that the image is seen as laterally inverted. Lateral inversion is a phenomenon wherein what is left on the
object appears as right on the image and vice versa, This is due to the direction that light follows when it strikes
a reflecting surface generally like a mirror.

What’s More
Activity 1.1 Reflection of Light in Mirrors
Objectives:
1. Determine the height, width and the distance from the mirror of the image formed by a plane
mirror.
2. Compare the actual height, width and the distance from the mirror of the object with that of the
image formed by plane mirrors. Materials:
Picture of complete set-up
Procedure:
1. Examine this figure of an image and object characteristics in plane mirrors.

Image Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/25-2-the-law-of-reflection/

Q1. Compare the distance from the mirror of the object with that of the image.

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Q2. How does the height and width of the object compare with that of the image?
Activity 1.2: Angle of Incidence vs. Angle of Reflection
Objectives:
1. Compare the angle of reflection and the angle of incidence.
2. State one of the Laws of Reflection.
Procedure:
3. Examine the figure below. Give a statement on the angle of incidence and angle of reflection.
Remember that the angle of incidence is the angle between the normal line and the incident ray.
The angle of reflection is the angle between the normal line and the reflected ray. The normal
line is a line drawn perpendicular to the mirror.

Image Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/25-2-the-law-of-reflection/

Note: If, you have an available plane mirror at home, an ordinary laser light and a protractor, you may try doing
the activity given below. It would be an exciting learning experience Simply follow the set-up shown on
the figure.
Caution: Be careful in handling the mirror and laser light. Never focus the laser to your eyes or to
anybody’s eyes as it may cause damage to the eyes.
Q3. How does the angle of incidence compare with the angle of reflection?

Activity 1.3: Mirror Left Right Reversal

Procedure:
1. Using all capital letters, try writing your name on a piece of paper so it would read correctly when read
through a mirror. Try if how many times you will do it before you get it correctly done.
Q4. What concept you have learned from the lesson is applied? Explain.
Q5. Now, based on this concept, explain why the word “AMBULANCE” is written in a reverse manner in front
of ambulance car.
Activity 1.4: When Less Becomes More

For this activity, refer to the images shown. This is an activity which was performed for you
if you do not have available two identical mirrors at home. But if you have it, you may try it yourself.
It would be fun doing the activity. You may even perform it with other members of the family.
Objectives:
1. Identify the relationship between the number of images formed and the angle between two plane
mirrors.

2. Derive a formula for determining the number of images formed when two mirrors are kept at a certain
angle.
Materials:
Images of an object in two identical mirrors placed at different angles.

Procedure:
1. Examine these images of an object placed in front of two adjacent mirrors at an angle with each other.
Count the number of images formed.

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Note: Images used for this activity is owned by the author
0
Angle: 30

0
Angle: 45

0
Angle: 60

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 0
Angle: 90

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1. Enter all the values in Table 4.

Table 4: Number of Images Formed

Angle Number of Images

900

600

450

300

Q6. What happens to the number of images formed as you vary the angles between the mirrors?
Q7. What is the relationship between the number of images formed by two mirrors?
Q8. If you want to see an infinite number of images on a mirror, how should you arrange the mirrors?
Q9. Based on the data derive a formula to be used in determining the number of images formed between two
mirrors at an angle with each other.
What I Have Learned
1. What is reflection? (3 pts)
2. State the two laws of reflection. (5 pts)
3. What do you call the ray that falls on a surface?
4. What do you call the ray the ray that bounce back from the surface?
5. What type of reflection is illustrated when light falls on smooth surfaces such as mirrors or a calm body of
water?
6. What type of reflection of light is shown when light falls on rough surfaces such as clothing, asphalt, rocks
and others?
7. What are the characteristics (type, orientation, size, distance, position) of images formed by plane mirrors?
8. A phenomenon wherein what is left on the object appears as right on the image and vice versa. This is due
to the direction that light follows when it strikes a reflecting surface generally like a mirror.
9. What type of image is formed when an outgoing ray from an object always diverge (move apart)?
What I Can Do
1. Now, based on what you have learned, explain why the word “AMBULANCE” is written in a reverse
manner in front of the ambulance car. What is its importance?
2. Construct a Bubble Map on the concepts you learned from this lesson.

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 Lesson 1: Assessment

Direction: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.
1. The entire two opposite walls in your room consist of plane mirrors, how much larger will your room seem
to
appear?
A. 2x larger B. 3x larger C. 4x larger D. Infinite
2. In a plane mirror, how does the reflected image appear?
A. Slightly out of focus
B. Closer than the actual object
C. Upright and the same size as the object
D. Upside down and much smaller than the object
3. A clock hang on the wall is facing a plane mirror hanged on the opposite wall. As you see the reflection of
the clock on the mirror, the clock shows the time of 9:00. What is the real time?

4. Light is incident on a flat surface, making an angle of 10 o with that surface, as shown on the figure below.
(a) What is the angle of incidence? (b) What is the angle of reflection?

Source
:

A. Angle of incidence is 80o and angle of reflection is 10o

B. Angle of incidence is 80o and angle of reflection is 80o
C. Angle of incidence is 10o and angle of reflection is 10o
D. Angle of incidence is 10o and angle of reflection is 180o
5. On the given illustration, which is the incident ray?

A. A B. B C. C D. D

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6. If a man stands 4 feet in front of a plane mirror, how far away is the man’s image from the mirror?
A. Nearer than the man from the mirror
B. Twice as far as the man from the mirror
C. Three times as far as the man from the mirror
D. The same distance as the man from the mirror
7. Which of these objects would exhibit regular reflection?
A. A sweater C. high-gloss paint
B. Dry asphalt D. dashboard in a car
8. How do you describe the kind of the image shown on the given illustration?
A. Real image C. both A and B
B. Virtual image D. none of the above

Image Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/25-2-the-law-of-reflection/

9. A boy is running at a speed of 5 m/s towards a plane mirror. The boy and his image in the mirror are
moving:
A. Towards each other at a speed of 5 m/s
B. Towards each other at a speed of 10 m/s
C. Away from each other at a speed of 5 m/s 5
D. Away from each other at a speed of 10 m/s
10. On the illustration given in item number 6 , the arrow which is labeled A is called the:
A. Incident ray C. Principal axis
B. Normal Line D. Reflected Ray
11. As the angle of incidence is increased for a ray incident on a reflecting surface, the angle between the
incident
and reflected rays ultimately approaches what value?
A. 0 B. 450 C. 900 D. 1800

12. When the image of an object is seen in a plane mirror, the distance from the mirror to the image depends on
.
A. the frequency of the wave
B. the wavelength of light used for viewing.
C. the distance from the object to the mirror.
D. the distance of both the observer and the object to the mirror.
13. Two plane mirrors are attached to form a dual mirror system with an adjustable angle is shown. As the
angle between the mirrors increases, the number of images .
A. increase C. double
B. decrease D. remains the same

Image Source: http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-ii/light-reflection/plane- mirror.php Image

Formation in a Plane mirror reflection of Light
14. The bouncing of light rays when light strikes a shiny surface like a mirror.
a. diffraction C. refraction
b. reflection D. both a and b
15. If you look down on a pool of wavy water, you can’t see your face clearly. Which one of the following
gives the best explanation for this observation?
 a. Light entering the water is dispersed 6
b. Regular reflection of light happens on the surface of wavy water.
c. Irregular reflection of light happens on the surface of wavy water.
c. Light is reflected from the surface of water in the different direction.

Lesson 2
Images Formed by Curved Mirror

To give you an idea of the next lesson, try looking at your image on both sides (concave and convex) of
your spoon. What have you noticed? This is a reflection on curved mirrors.
A curved mirror is a reflecting surface in which its section is a section of a sphere. There are two kinds
of curved mirrors, the concave and the convex. A spoon is a kind of curved mirror with a concave side (front
side) and the convex side (back).
What is It
A concave mirror is called converging mirror because the parallel incident rays converge or
meet/intersect at a focal point. Remember that a focal point as you can see on the illustration is the point at
which rays meet after reflection.

Image Source: https://www.teachoo.com/10825/3118/Parts-of-Concave-and-Convex-

Mirror/category/Concepts/
A convex mirror is called diverging mirror because the parallel incident rays diverge after reflection.
When extending the reflected rays behind the mirror as shown, the rays converge at the focus behind the mirror.
Now try to explore further on the characteristics of images formed by curved mirrors.

Image Source: https://www.teachoo.com/10825/3118/Parts-of-Concave-and-Convex- Mirror/category/Concepts/

What’s More
Plane mirrors and convex mirrors both produce only a virtual image. A real image can only be seen in a concave
mirror at a condition that the object will be placed at a distance greater than the focal length from the surface of the
mirror. The image formed will be in an upright position and reduced in size.
The Law of reflection for plane mirrors remains true for both concave and convex mirrors. When light rays
reflect off a concave mirror, the rays converge at a point called the focus. The focal length is measured from the reflective
surface to the focus. The image produced by concave mirrors are reduced in size and it is a real image. Convex mirrors on
the other hand create an image bigger than the object which is virtual.
Here is an illustration of a curved mirror.

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 Image Source:

If you have internet connection, watch the video for you to discover the characteristics of images formed by
curved mirrors. After watching the video, complete the table below.
Video 1: Characteristics of Images formed by Concave Mirrors
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Video 2: Characteristics of Images Formed by Convex Mirrors
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch/v=TpN6xuYxwms7feature=share
If watching the video is not possible for you because you have no internet connection, don’t worry because you can just
use your spoon to observe images in curve mirrors. Simply observe your image in both sides at different distances. Good
luck. Just enjoy the activity and have fun.
Note: For the size of the object, you wiIl simply indicate whether the image is bigger or smaller than the object, position
is upright or inverted and the type of image as virtual or real.
Table 2: Characteristics of Images formed by Curved Mirrors.
Image
Location of the Object Location Orientation Size Type
CONCAVE
A. Farther than the center of
curvature
B. At the center of curvature
C. Between the center of curvature
and the Focal Point
D. At the Focal Point
E. Between the Focal Point and the
vertex
CONVEX
All Locations

Q10. When the object is brought closer to the concave mirror. What happens to it’s size and location?
Q11. What generalization can you arrive at from the nature of images formed by Convex and concave mirrors.
Now, let us determine the characteristics of the images formed by curved mirrors using mirror equation.
1/f = 1/p + 1/q Mirror Equation
Where:
f - is the focal length or distance from the mirror and the focal point (F)
p - Distance of the object from the mirror
q - distance of the image from the mirror
The sign convention for mirrors:
• f is + if the mirror is concave
• f is – if the lens is convex
• q is + if the image is real and located on the object side of the mirror
• q is – if the image is virtual and located behind the mirror
• h’ is + if the image is upright  h’ is – if the image is inverted
Where:
f - is the focal length or distance from the mirror q - is the distance of the image from the mirror h’ - is the height
of the image
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 Sample Exercises using the mirror equation:
1. A 5.00 cm. tall light bulb is placed at a distance of 45.0 cm from a concave mirror having a focal length of 10.5 cm
Determine the image distance and the image size.
Given:
Height of the object h=5.00 cm
Distance of the object =45.0 cm
Focal point = 10.5 cm
Find:
Distance of the image, q=?
Height of the image, h =?
1/f = 1/p + 1/q
1/10.5cm = 1/45.0cm + 1/q
q=13.7 cm

The image height can be determined using the magnification equation. Since three of the four quantities in the equation
are known, the fourth quantity can be calculated.
h’/h=-q/p
h’/5.00 cm = -13.7/45.0 cm
h’= (5.00 cm) (-13.7 cm)/45.0 cm
h’= -1.52 cm
Note: A negative value for image height indicates an inverted image
Exercises: Do it yourself.
1. What is the image distance and image height if a 7.00 cm tall object is placed 30.0 cm from a concave
mirror having a focal length of 10.0 cm?
2. What is the focal length of a convex mirror that produces an image that appears 15.0cm behind the mirror
when the object is 27.5 cm from the mirror?
What I Have Learned
1. Using the equation 1/f = 1/p + 1/q, for all locations in front of a convex mirror, where does the image
seem to appear always? Explain. (5 pts.)
2. It is therefore considered that the value of image distance, q is negative. What does the negative value for
image distance mean? (5 pts.)
3. In the same manner, the focus, F in a concave mirror is located on the other side of the mirror (behind
the mirror), thus the focal length is also negative. What is meant by the negative value of a focal length
in a concave mirror?
What I Can Do
1. Cite a situation in your daily routine which uses the concept of reflection? Explain.
2. Why are curved mirrors used in supermarkets?
Lesson 2: Assessment
1. If you wish to have a magnified image of your face for applying makeup or shaving, the mirror you will use must be:
A. Plane mirror C. Convex mirror
B. Concave mirror D. Concave mirror
2. What kind of mirror is used by department stores to give a wider area and smaller image of the shoppers?
A. Plane mirror C. Concave mirror
B .Convex mirror D. none of the above
3. Which of the following statements can best describe the image formed by a concave mirror when the object is
at a distance farther than the center of curvature (C) of the mirror?
A. Virtual, erect and bigger than the object
B. Virtual, upright and smaller than the object
C. Real, inverted and smaller than the object
D. Real, inverted and bigger than the object
4. An object is placed at the focus of a concave mirror. The image will be
A. real, upright, same size at the focus
B .real, inverted, same size at the focus
C. real, inverted, highly enlarged at infinity
D. virtual, inverted, highly enlarged at infinity.
5. A person views his image in front of a mirror. His image appeared to be real, inverted and
larger than him. What kind of mirror did he used?
A. Concave Mirror C. Magic Mirror
B. Convex mirror D. Plane Mirror

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 6. Where must a candle flame be placed to produce an image that is upright and magnified?
A. At the focus C. Outside the focus
B. Inside the focus D. Anywhere in front of the lens
7. A convex mirror will always produce an image that is .
A. virtual, upright, larger
B. virtual, upright, smaller
C. virtual, upright, same size
D. real, upside down, smaller
8. As the distance of an object from a converging mirror decreases, the image:
A. increases in size and moves toward the mirror.
B. decreases in size and moves toward the mirror
C. decreases in size and moves away from the mirror.
D. increases in size and moves away from the mirror.
9. The reason why convex mirrors are used as rear-view mirrors in vehicles is:
a. It is more attractive C. It produces real image
b. It has wider field view D. It produces virtual image
10. What will be the exact description of the image that will be formed on the given illustration of a concave
mirror showing object location between C and F?

A. Virtual, upright, enlarged

B. Real, enlarged and inverted
C. Smaller than the object, inverted and real
D. Smaller than the object, upright and virtual
11. Rays of light traveling parallel to the principal axis of a concave mirror will come together
A. at infinity C. at the center of curvature
B. at the focal point D. at a point half way to the focal point.
12. A candle is placed in front of a concave mirror. The image produced by the mirror is:
A. Virtual, upright, magnified C. Real, inverted and demagnified
B. Real, inverted and magnified D. Virtual, upright and demagnified
13. As the distance of an object from a converging mirror decreases, the image:
A. moves toward the mirror and increases in size
B. moves towards the mirror and decreases in size
C. moves away from the mirror and increases in size
D. moves away from the mirror and decreases in size
14. Which of the following statements can best describe the image formed by a concave mirror when the
object is at a distance farther than the center of curvature (C) of the mirror?
A. Virtual, erect and bigger than the object
B. Real, inverted and smaller than the object
C. Real, inverted and bigger than the object
D.Virtual, upright and smaller than the object
15. Farsightedness is corrected by a:
A. convex lens C. concave lens
B. convex mirror D. concave mirror

ANSWER KEY

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