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Physics Lesson 12.8.2 - Types of Mirrors
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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Types of Mirrors, this is the second lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Mirrors. Equation of Curved Mirrors. Image Formation in Plane and Curved Mirrors, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
Types of Mirrors
To explain mirrors and how different types of mirrors differ from each other, we will use a parallel incident beam coming from infinity. A light beam coming from the Sun would be a good approximation in this regard, as the Sun is far enough to be considered as being at infinity.
Given this, we can divide mirrors in two main categories:
1 - Plane mirrors
.In Plane mirrors, an incident bundle of parallel rays coming from infinity will produce parallel rays even after reflection, as shown in the figure of the previous paragraph.
2 - Curved mirrors
.Curved mirrors are formed by a part of a spherical shaped mirror. This category of mirrors contains two sub-categories in itself. They are:
- Concave mirrors, in which only the inner part of the curved reflecting surface is reflective. In concave mirrors, a parallel beam coming from infinity will converge at a single point called focus, which is located at half-distance between the mirror and the geometrical centre of the sphere from which the mirror originates.
When incident rays initially converg, they collect at a point, which is nearer than focus after reflection, and when incident rays are initially diverging, they collect at a point that is farther than focus after reflection. - Convex mirrors, in which only the outer part of the curved reflecting surface is reflective. In convex mirrors, a beam of parallel rays coming from infinity will diverge after striking the mirror in such a way that the extension of these rays passes through focus.
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 12.8.2 Types of Mirrors. There are 8 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Mirrors. Equation of Curved Mirrors. Image Formation in Plane and Curved Mirrors, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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- Continuing learning optics - read our next physics tutorial: Lenses. Equation of Lenses. Image Formation of Lenses
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