Chapter 18: Mirrors and Lenses

18.1 Mirrors
OBJECTS AND THEIR IMAGES IN PLANE MIRRORS
Plane Mirror- a flat, smooth surface that reflects light in a
regular way.
Object- a source of diverging light rays
Image (P)- where the extended rays (behind a mirror)
apparently intersect
Virtual Image- Point from where the rays appear to come from
point (P) but there is actually no object there.
Object rays are reflected with equal angles of incidence and
reflection
The image is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is
in front of the mirror
CONCAVE MIRRORS
Concave Mirror- reflects light from its inner caved in surface
Principal Axis- the straight line perpendicular to the surface of
the mirror at its center
Think of a concave mirror as a large number of small plane
mirrors arranged around the surface of a sphere
o Each mirror is perpendicular to the radius of the sphere
o Angle of incidence still equals angle of reflection
Focal Point- half the distance between the mirror and the center
(of the sphere)
o All rays parallel to the principal axis will cross at the focal
point
Focal length, f- the length of half the radius of the mirror (the
length to the focal point)
SPHERICAL ABERRATION AND PARABOLIC MIRRORS
Spherical aberration- rays far from the principal axis do not
converge at the focal point, but rather slightly closer to the
mirror than others.
o Occurs at regular spherical mirrors
o Does not occur at parabolic mirrors (very difficult to make)
REAL VS VIRTUAL IMAGES
Real Image- Rays actually converge at that point, can be
projected on a piece of paper or a screen
Virtual Image- light rays do not actually converge, cannot be
projected on a screen

REAL IMAGES FORMED BY CONCAVE MIRRORS

Can form both real and virtual images

This equation, the mirror equation, can be used to find its:

o Focal length, f
o Distance of object from mirror, do
o Distance of image from mirror, di
The ration of the size of the image to the size of the object is
called magnification, and can be found with this equation:

Mirror Equation Conventions

f is positive for concave mirrors/lenses
o negative for convex mirrors/lenses
do is positive for real objects
o negative for virtual objects
di is positive for real images
o negative for virtual images
hi is positive if the image is upright (virtual)
o negative if the image is inverted (real)
VIRTUAL IMAGES FORMED BY CONCAVE MIRRORS
When object is at the focal point, all reflected rays are parallel
If object moves past the focal point, no real image exists, but
instead, a virtual one. (behind the mirror)
VIRTUAL IMAGES FORMED BY CONVEX MIRRORS
Convex mirror- reflects light from its outer surface
o Rays reflected always diverge (scatter outward), thus do
not form real images.
o Focal point is always placed behind the mirror for ray
diagrams
Thus, it is a negative number
Ray 1 goes straight towards the focal and reflects off the dotted
Ray 2 goes parallel and dotted goes directly through the focal

Convex mirrors form images reduce in size

18.2 Lenses
TYPES OF LENSES
Lenses- are transparent
REAL IMAGES FORMED BY CONVEX LENSES
Convex lens can form an imaged that can be projected on a
screen

Lens Equation Conventions

do is positive for real objects
o negative for virtual objects
di is positive for real images
o negative for virtual images
f is positive for convex lenses
negative for concave lenses

Drawing Convex Lenses Images

Draw 3 Rays
- Parallel Ray- Goes parallel to principal and then bends toward
focal point
- Center Ray- Continues straight through the center