Today’s agenda:

Plane Mirrors.
You must be able to draw ray diagrams for plane mirrors, and be able to
calculate image and object heights, distances, and magnifications.

Spherical Mirrors: concave and convex mirrors.

You must understand the differences between these two kinds of mirrors, be
able to draw ray diagrams for both kinds of mirrors, and be able to solve the
mirror equation for both kinds of mirrors.
Image Formed by a Plane Mirror

point object A,
source of light

• reflected rays appear to come from A’  A’ is

image of A
•
Image of an extended object

• every point of the object acts as light source

• every point has an image
• collection of image points form image of the object
Quantitative description

y y’

s s’
object distance s and image distance s’
s=-s’ * size y and image size y’
object y=y’ These equations are not
on your equation sheet,
 magnification m m=y’/y=1 but they are special
cases of the mirror
equations that are.

Plane mirrors produce images that are upright,

virtual and of the same size as the object (and
reversed front-to-back)
*The – sign is needed because the image is behind the mirror. For general sign conventions
Example: how tall must a full-length mirror be?

s s’
A light ray from the top of your head reflects directly
back from the top of the mirror.
 y/2

 
y/2

s s’
To reach your eye, a light ray from your foot must
reflect halfway up the mirror (because I = R = ).
 y/
2

 
y/
2
s s’
The mirror needs to be only half as tall as you.
This calculation assumed your eyes are at the top of your head.
Example: where is the image located (top view)?
Example: Image of a distant object. How large does the
mirror have to be?

Find some similar triangles! (Only one is fully shown in

the figure.)
Today’s agenda:
Plane Mirrors.
You must be able to draw ray diagrams for plane mirrors, and be able to
calculate image and object heights, distances, and magnifications.

Spherical Mirrors: concave and convex mirrors.

You must understand the differences between these two kinds of mirrors, be
able to draw ray diagrams for both kinds of mirrors, and be able to solve the
mirror equation for both kinds of mirrors.
Spherical Mirrors

• made from (polished) sections cut

from a spherical surface
• center of curvature C is center
of original sphere
• vertex V is center of mirror segment

• radius of curvature R is radius of

sphere, or the distance from V to C.
R
V
Principal Axis C

• principal axis (or optical axis) is line

passing through C and V
Paraxial rays (parallel to the principal axis) get
reflected through a common point the focal point or
focus F.

C F V
The focal length f is the distance from P to F. Your
text shows that f = R/2.

f
C F P
Reality check: paraxial rays don’t really pass exactly
through the focal point of a spherical mirror (“spherical
aberration”).

C F V
• spherical aberration is small if mirror is small
compared to R and if object is close to the principal
(We
axiswill assume this in this class and neglect the spherical
aberration)

C F V

• aberrations could be reduced by using

a parabolic mirror instead of a
spherical one
Today’s agenda:
Plane Mirrors.
You must be able to draw ray diagrams for plane mirrors, and be able to
calculate image and object heights, distances, and magnifications.

Spherical Mirrors: concave and convex mirrors.

You must understand the differences between these two kinds of mirrors, be
able to draw ray diagrams for both kinds of mirrors, and be able to solve the
lens equation for both kinds of mirrors.
Concave and Convex Mirrors

There are two kinds of spherical mirrors: concave and

convex.

concave convex
F
Ray Diagrams for Mirrors

• use “principal rays” to construct images.

Ray 1 is parallel to the

axis and reflects through
F.
Ray 2 passes through F
before reflecting parallel
V
to the axis. C F
Ray 3 passes
through C and
reflects back on
itself.
Ray 4 goes to the vertex V and reflects under the
same angle below the optical axis
 Ray Diagrams for Concave Mirrors
• image is formed where the outgoing rays cross
• two principle rays are sufficient to find
image, use third and fourth to check your
diagram
Example:
• object outside center
(s>2f)
 image is real,
inverted,
and smaller than object C F
object between f and 2f
(“telescope”)
 image is real, inverted,
and larger than object
(“microscope”)

Real image: outgoing rays do cross. Can be captured on screen or

• object inside the focal point (s<f)
 image is virtual, upright, and larger than object
(“shaving mirror”)

Ray 1: parallel to the Ray 2: “through” F then

axis then through F. parallel to the axis.
Ray 3: “through” C.

C F

With this size object, there was a bit of spherical

aberration present, and I had to “cheat” my C a
bit to the left to make the diagram look “nice.”
 The Mirror Equations

two equations govern image formation for mirrors:

• object and image distances
1 1 1
+ = f=R/2 or f= for a plane
s s' f mirror.
s
y f
• magnification (ratio of
image to object
C y’ F
heights)
s’
y' s'
m= = -
y s
 1 1 1 y' s'
+ = m= = -
s s' f y s

Equations are useless without sign conventions!!!

• object distance s is s
positive if object is on
y f
side of incoming light C
y’ F
• image distance s’ is
positive if image is on s’
side of outgoing light

• focal length f and

radius R are positive if
sign conventions
center is on side of valid for all mirrors
outgoing light and lenses
• image height y’ is positive if the image is upright
Handy quick reference card from Dr. Hale:

http://web.mst.edu/~hale/courses/Physics24/Quick.Reference.Cards/Card.5.mirror.lens.pdf
Example: a dime (height is 1.8 cm) is placed 100 cm
away from a concave mirror. The image height is 0.9
cm and the image is inverted. What is the focal length
of the mirror.
y=1.8 y’=-0.9 s=100

y' s'
m= = -
y s

-0.9 s'  -0.9 

=-  s'= - 100  = +50 cm
1.8 100  1.8 

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3
= + = + = + =
f s s' 100 50 100 100 100

100
f= =33.3 cm
3
Example: a dime (height is 1.8 cm) is placed 100 cm
away from a concave mirror. The image height is 0.9
cm and the image is inverted. What is the focal length
of the mirror.
1 1 1 y' s'
+ = m= = -
s s' f y s

y f f =33.3 cm

C y’ F
s’
s’, s, or f on reflecting side are
+
y is – if image is inverted
 Applications of concave mirrors.

Shaving mirrors.

Makeup mirrors.

Kid scarers.

Solar cookers.

Ant fryers.

Flashlights, headlamps, stove reflectors.

Satellite dishes (not used for visible light but for EM

waves of the appropriate wave length).
Today’s agenda:
Plane Mirrors.
You must be able to draw ray diagrams for plane mirrors, and be able to
calculate image and object heights, distances, and magnifications.

Spherical Mirrors: concave and convex mirrors.

You must understand the differences between these two kinds of mirrors, be
able to draw ray diagrams for both kinds of mirrors, and be able to solve the
lens equation for both kinds of mirrors.
 Ray Diagrams for Convex Mirrors

Ray 1: parallel to the Ray 2: “through” Vertex.

axis then “from” F.
Ray 3: “from” C.

F C
Ray 4: towards F,
then parallel.

• image is virtual, upright, and

smaller than object

Convex mirror has only one mode of operation, independent of s

The mirror equation still works for convex mirrors.
1 1 1 y' s'
+ = m= = -
s s' f y s

s
f
y s’
y’
F C

Because C and the image are not on the side of the

outgoing light, R, f and s’ are negative.
Example: a convex rearview car mirror has a radius of
curvature of 40 cm. Determine the location of the
image and its magnification for an object 10 m from
the mirror.
The ray diagram looks like the one on the previous
slide, but with the object much further away (difficult to
draw).
1 1 1
+ =
s s' f

1 1 1 1 1
=  = 
s' f s -0.2 m 10 m

Not on On reflecting
reflecting sidepositive
sidenegative. .
 1 1 1
= 
s' -0.2 m 10 m

…algebra…

s'= - 0.196 m= -19.6 cm

s' -0.196 m 1
m= - = - =
s 10 m 51
 Applications of convex mirrors.

Passenger side rear-view mirrors.

Grocery store aisle mirrors.

Railroad crossing mirrors.

Anti-shoplifting (surveillance) mirrors.

Christmas tree ornaments.

 Summary: Image formation for Mirrors

Type Focal Object Image Character Orientation Size

length f distance s distance s’
plane  s>0 s’ < 0 virtual upright same

concave f>0 s > 2f f < s’ < 2f real inverted reduced

f < s < 2f s’ > 2f real inverted enlarged

s<f s’<0 virtual upright enlarged

convex f<0 s>0 s’ < 0 virtual upright reduced

 Summary of Sign Conventions

Here’s a summary of the mirror and lens

(coming soon) sign conventions

Object Distance. When the object is on the same

side as the incoming light, the object distance is
positive (otherwise is negative).

Image Distance. When the image is on the same

side as the outgoing light, the image distance is
positive (otherwise is negative). (negative
image distance  virtual image) (positive image distance  real image)

Radius of Curvature. When the center of curvature

C is on the same side as the outgoing light, R is
positive (otherwise is negative).
 I really don’t understand these ray diagrams!

If, like many students, you don’t understand ray

diagrams, the following supplementary (will not be
covered in lecture) slides may help.
For a concave lens, the center of curvature and focal
point are on the same side of the lens as the object.

C F

Concave Mirror
Light coming from the object parallel to the axis will
always reflect through F.

C F

Concave Mirror
Light coming from the object and passing through F
before it hits the mirror will always reflect parallel to
the axis.

C F

Concave Mirror
Light coming from the object and passing through C
before it hits the mirror will always reflect back on
itself.

C F

Concave Mirror
Light coming from the object and striking the vertex
will reflect off with an outgoing angle equal to the
incoming angle. This is often more difficult to draw
(unless you measure the angle).


C 

Concave Mirror
For a convex lens, the center of curvature and focal
point are on the opposite side of the lens as the object.
Light from the object will never actually pass through C
or F.

F C

Convex Mirror
Light coming from the object parallel to the axis will
always reflect back as if it had come from F.

F C
Follow the path of the light back “through”
the mirror to see where it appears to have
come from.

Convex Mirror
Light coming from the object and directed at F will
always reflect back parallel to the axis.

F C
Follow the path of the light back “through”
the mirror to see where it appears to have
come from.

Convex Mirror
Light coming from the object and directed at C will
always reflect back on itself.

F C
Follow the path of the light back “through”
the mirror to see where it appears to have
come from.

Convex Mirror
Light coming from the object and striking the vertex
will reflect back with an outgoing angle equal to the
incoming angle. This is often more difficult to draw
(unless you measure the angle).


 F C
Follow the path of the light back “through”
the mirror to see where it appears to have
come from.

Convex Mirror