THIN SPHERICAL MIRRORS

INTRODUCTION
The laws of reflection hold for spherical mirrors. When a ray of light strikes
the spherical mirror, it is reflected such that the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection. However, due to the curvature of the surface, parallel incident
rays on the mirror may converge or diverge after reflection. Concave mirrors are
called converging mirrors because the incident parallel rays are converged at the
focus after reflection. On the other hand, convex mirrors are called diverging mirrors
because they diverge the incident parallel rays after reflection. In this experiment,
you will study the different types of images formed by spherical mirrors.

Spherical mirrors are said to be one of the easiest to analyze. The spherical
mirror has the shape of a piece that has been cut out of a spherical surface. The
reflecting surface of a spherical mirror is a portion of a spherical surface. In plane
mirrors, the images that is formed are only virtual and erect images which are of the
same size as the object but spherical mirrors can also form real images which are
inverted and these real images may be smaller or larger than the object. Concave
and concave are the two types of spherical mirrors. Concave mirrors are the type of
mirror that are silvered on the inside of the sphere and most likely to magnify
objects placed close to them. The law of reflection occurs in concave mirror but the
angle at which the light hits the surface which is the incident angle is different
depending on which part of the mirror the light hits thus causing it to focus light
similar to the way that a lens in a camera focuses light and forms an image where
the image formed is a real image that are being projected out in front of the mirror
at where the light focuses. Concave mirrors not only form real images but also
produce a virtual image and is the only type of mirror that is capable of doing so. To
determine whether the image formed by a concave mirror is real or virtual is by
determining the object distance and the object size and the image distance and the
image size. Real images tend to be inverted with respect to the object and also
magnified while the virtual images tend to be upright with respect to the object and
is also magnified. The characteristic difference between the real and virtual is that
after the reflection that occurs in the mirror where the light rays emitted by that
object converge on a real image but diverge from a virtual image. Another type of
mirror which is the convex mirror has a reflective surface that is curves outward and
has a point that is where the light that strikes it appears to focus that are called
focal point. Convex mirrors always produce the same kind of image whether where
the original object is located. A convex mirror will always formed an image that are
virtual, upright and smaller than the object.