Image Formation in Concave Mirror

Plane

flat surface

Spherical

a partition of a sphere that was sliced away and then silvered on one of the sides to form a reflecting surface

Concave Mirrors

silvered on the INSIDE of the sphere

Convex Mirrors

silvered on the OUTSIDE of the sphere

Image

a representation of the external form of an object

Real Image

formed in front of the mirror and is always upside down relative to the object - can be projected or seen on a screen

Virtual Image

formed behind the mirror and is upright relative to the object - formed behind a mirror

Upright Image

one that appears right-side up

Inverted Image

an image in which up & down are interchanged

Plane Mirrors

virtual, upright, the same size as the object, the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror and LATERALLY REVERSED

Center of Curvature

the center of the sphere from where the mirror was taken

Vertex

the center of the mirror - sometimes called the pole of the mirror

Radius of Curvature

the radius of the sphere distance between C & V

Principal Axis

a straight line joining C & V

Aperture

width of the mirror

Principal Focus

the point where the reflected rays meet as in the case of a converging mirror (concave)

Focal Length

the distance from the pole to the principal focus one-half of the radius of curvature

Ray Diagrams

a method of plotting light rays to pinpoint the location of the image and its characteristics

Ray Diagrams

Intersection

location of the image

4

how many fundamental rays make up ray diagrams

highest point of the object

each ray originates from this and causes bounces of the surface of the mirror