Plane Mirror-1

Ray Optics : Assignment

PHYSICS Topic: Reflection of Light Assignments By : Upvan Mittal

1. Sketch the images of the given objects as

formed by the plane mirrors. Also find the
distance between object and image in each
case.
(iii)
5. A man of height 2m is standing in front of a
(i) vertical plane mirror. If his eyes are 10 cm below
the top of his head then find the minimum size
of the mirror required for the person to see his
full length image. Also find the height of the
bottom of mirror above ground.

6. A boy of height 1 m is standing at a distance

(ii) 10m from a vertical plane mirror as shown in
figure. A man of height 2m, standing at 20m
2. In each of the following questions, sketch the from the mirror wants to see the full length
region in which the observer may place his eye image of the boy. Find the minimum length of
to see the full image of the object mirror required for this. Also find the height of
(i) (ii) the bottom of mirror above ground.

(iii) (iv)

(v)

7. Two plane mirrors are placed at an angle . A

3. Sketch the region, in which the observer should
point object O is placed somewhere in the
place his eye to see the images of point object
region between the mirrors. For symmetric/
O.
asymmetric positions of the particle and
(i) If he is interested only in seeing I 1
different values of  find the total number of
(ii) If he is interested only in seeing I 2
images formed. (Fill the table):
(iii ) If he is interested only in seeing I 3
   
Symmetric
Asymmetric

8. A point object q is kept midway between two

plane mirrors as shown in figure

4. If ‘E’ denotes the position of eye, then sketch

the field of view in each case.

(i) How many images of q are formed? Does

(i) (ii) the answer depend on the size of the mirrors?

1
 (ii) Find the distance of the 3rd image behind 14. An object AB is kept in front of a plane mirror.
mirror-II from mirror-II. Sketch the image of AB formed by the mirror.

9. Two plane mirrors are arranged parallel to each

other. A point object is placed symmetrically
between them, at distance ‘d’ from each
mirror. Find the position of nth image behind one
of the plane mirrors.

10. A point object P is kept between two parallel

plane mirrors as shown in figure. Find the
distance of the 3rd image formed behind mirror-
II from mirror-II.

15. A ray is incident on a plane mirror at 300 with

normal. Find it’s deviation after reflection.

16. A ray is incident on a plane mirror as shown in

figure. If the incident ray is rotated by 10° in
clockwise direction and the plane mirror is
rotated by 20° in clockwise direction, find the
angle through which the reflected ray will
rotate.
11. Two plane mirrors are placed parallel to each
other. A point object is placed asymmetrically
between them such that its distance from
mirror-I is a and that from mirror-2 is b. Find the
positions of 2nth and (2n-1)th images formed
behind mirror-2.

17. Two plane mirrors M1 and M2 are inclined at

angle  as shown. A ray of light 1, which is
parallel to M 1 , strikes M 2 and after two
reflections, the ray 2 becomes parallel to M 2.
Find the angle .

12. Two plane mirrors are kept at an angle 600 with

each other. An object is kept on the angle
bisector such that its distance from intersection
point of mirrors is d. Find the distance between
images formed by a single reflection.
13. A man is standing in front of a vertical plane
mirror as shown in figure. (The man is not
standing straight but at an angle 45 0 with 18. Two plane mirrors are kept at an angle of 1200
vertical). Using the distances given in figure, find with each other. A ray is incident at an angle
the minimum length of mirror required for him 500 on the horizontal mirror as shown in figure.
to see his full image. After two reflections, find
(i) the angle made by the ray with horizontal.
(ii) total (angular) deviation of the ray.
19. The angle of incidence of a light ray on a plane
V2
mirror is decreased by 150. How much will the V2
v1 V1
angle between the incident and the reflected
ray be reduced ?
(v) O (vi)
0
20. (a) Sun rays are incident at an angle of 24 to
the horizontal. How can they be directed
parallel to the horizontal using a plane mirror ?
V2
(b) A plane mirror is at 450 to the horizontal
surface of a table on which a book lies. In what
plane will the image of the book be formed ? V1

(vii) 1
21. (a) If the time shown by a wall clock is 11:15, O
then what will be the time shown by it’s mirror
image? Solve the same problem if the wall
clock shows 12:30.
(b) How many times in a day will a wall clock
and it’s mirror image show exactly same time? ANSWERS
1. (i) a 2 , (ii) 4m
22. Two plane mirrors form an angle of 1200. The
distance between the two images of a point
source formed in them is 20 cm. Determine i
the distance from the light source to the
point where the mirrors touch if it lies on the
(Fig. 1)
bisector of the angle formed by the mirrors.

23. How should two plane mirrors be arranged for

a point source of light and its two images to lie 0
45
at the vertices of an equilateral triangle ? O

24. Sunrays are reflected from a horizontal mirror

and fall on a vertical screen. An oblong object O
is placed on the mirror . Describe the shadow
on the screen. Assume that the screen is at a
0
sufficiently large distance from the object. (Fig. 2) 30

2. In each case, draw the image first by extending

the plane of the mirror if required and then join
image to the extreme ends of the actual mirror.
25. In each of the following cases, an object and a In case of extended objects like AB, the
intersection of the region of visibility of images
plane mirror are as shown in each figure. For of A and B will be the result.
each case, find the speed of the image as seen
3. Note that there is a lot of difference in the
by a stationary observer. meaning of the two statements :
5m/s ‘if he is interested only in seeing I1’ and ‘if he is
interested in seeing I1 only’. 
5m/s (i) Region PQRST
(i)O (ii) O
P
Q

2m/s O
I1
v
S
5m/s R T
(iii) O (iv) O
I3 I2
(iii) Region PQRST
 P

12. d 3

O
13. Minimum length=2m. (Note that this is less
I1
than H/2)
T
R S
I3 I2

14.
O FOV
4. (a)

15. 1200
i 16. 30°
17.  = 60°
18. (i) 1000 (ii) 1200 clockwise
19. By 300
20. (a) The mirror should be placed on the path
O
FOV of the rays at an angle of 780 or 120 to the
horizontal.
(b) (b) In the vertical plane.
21. (a) 12:45, 11:30 (Not 12:30) (b) Four times
i

22. 11.5 cm,

(c) 23. The mirrors should be placed at right angles

to the lateral sides of the triangle S'1 SS'2 at
equal distances from the vertices.
24. Length of shadow is twice the length of
5. 1m, 95 cm object.
25. (i) 5 m/s (leftwards) (ii) 10 m/s
2 2
6.
3
m, m
3
(Rightwards)
7. 9 8 10 8 (iii) 1 m/s (leftwards) (iv) V
9 9 No No
(v) V1 (vi)  2V2  V1 cos  2   V1 sin 2
No = cannot be predicted from the given data.
8. (i) Infinite, no (ii) 5cm
(vii) (2V2 cos 2  V1 cos 1)2  (VSin
1 )2
9. (2n-1)d distance behind that mirror
10.

11. (2n-1) th image is formed 2(n-1)a + (2n-1)b

distance behind 2nd mirror, 2nth image is formed
2na+ (2n-1)b distance behind the mirror.

Ray Optics : Assignment
PHYSICS Topic: Reflection of Light
26. A square is kept in front of a point source of
light with source lying on the axis of the square.
The shadow of this square is formed on a wall
parallel to the square. Find the rate of change
of area of the shadow if the square moves
towards the wall with uniform velocity V1 and
source moves towards the wall with a uniform
speed V2.. One side of the square is of length
‘2a’. Take the distance of the source and the
wall as x2 and that of square and the wall to
be x1.
27. A flat mirror is arranged parallel to a wall at a
distance  from it. The light produced by a point
source fastened on the wall falls on the mirror,
is reflected and produces a light spot on the
wall. With what velocity will the light spot move
along the wall if the mirror is brought upto the
wall with speed V? How will the dimensions of
the light spot change?
28. Find the smallest size of a plane looking glass,
a person with a face 24 cm by 16 cm should
purchase, which will enable him to see his
whole face at a time. The distance between
his eyes is 8 cm.
29. A circular light source, 400 mm in diameter, is
situated 300 mm from a disc of diameter 200
mm, forming a shadow on a screen placed
180 mm from the disc. If all the surfaces are
parallel to each other then, find the diameter
of the umbra and penumbra.
30. In figure an object 6mm tall is placed
symmetrically with and 150 mm from, a pinhole
camera which is 300 mm long. Find the height
of the image.
31. A pencil of light is reflected from three plane
mirrors as shown in figure. Calculate the values
of the unknown angles , , , , .
5
Plane Mirror-2
Assignments By : Upvan Mittal
32. In figure a room 4000 mm long and 3000 mm
high has a plane mirror 1000 mm long at the
centre of an end wall. Find the position where
a person must place his eye in order to see the
image of the wall occupy the total length of
the mirror.
33. A plane mirror is inclined at an angle  with
the horizontal surface. A particle is projected
from point P as shown in figure at t = 0 with a
velocity v at an angle  with the horizontal.
The image of the particle is observed from the
frame of the particle projected. Assuming the
particle does not collide the mirror, find the (a)
time when the image will come momentarily
at rest w.r.t. the particle, (b) path of the image
as seen by the particle.
34. A mirror 1 m high hangs on a wall. A man stands
a distance of 2 m away from the mirror. What
is the height of the portion of the opposite wall
in the room that can be seen by the man in
the mirror without changing the position of his
head? The wall is 4 m from the mirror.
35. When sunrays pass through a small opening in
the foliage at the top of a high tree, they
produce an elliptical spot on the ground. The
major and minor axes of the ellipses are a = 12
cm and b = 10 cm, respectively. What is the
height of the tree H? The angle subtended by
the solar disk at a point on earth is  = 1/108
rad.
36. In what direction should a beam of light be sent
from point A as shown in figure contained in a
mirror box for it to fall onto point B after being
reflected once from all four walls?
Points A and B are in one plane perpendicular
to the walls of the box (i.e., in the plane of the
drawing).

A two reflections.
B of mirrors =d).
42.
37. A small mirror is rotating with constant angular
speed as shown in figure. The mirror is kept at
the centre of curvature of a screen of radius
r=10m. If =5 rad/s, find the speed with which
a light spot moves on the screen.
43.
38. In the given figure, m is a small plane mirror
44.
rotating with constant angular speed . The
ray reflected by the mirror forms a bright spot
on the screen AB as shown in figure. Find the
speed of the spot along the screen as a
function of .
39. Three plane mirrors AB, CD and EF are arranged
parallel to each other and a point object O is
kept vertically above A along the line CD.
45.
Assume that mirrors are of equal length and
that no light falls on CD directly from O. How
many images of O are formed by the system?
Plot all the images. If CD and EF were of infinite
length then how many images will be formed?
46.
47.
40. A ray of light is incident on a plane mirror along
ˆ . The normal to the mirror at
a vector ˆi  ˆj  k
the point of incidence point is along ˆi  ˆj . Find
a unit vector along the reflected ray.
41. A point object is kept symmetrically between
3600
two plane mirrors placed at an angle  .
8 directions.
Find :
(i) the number of images formed.
(ii) the distance between images formed by
(Distance of object from point of intersection
A plane mirror is placed such that it intersects
the x, y and z axes at points (a, 0, 0), (0, b, 0)
and (0, 0, c) respectively. A ray parallel to vector
ˆ is incident on the reflecting side of the
3iˆ  4k
plane mirror. Find the unit vector parallel to
the reflected ray.
(Take a = 1 , b = 2, c = 3 for calculations)
The plane of a flat mirror lies in the plane formed
by joining points P1 (2, 2,0), P2 (0, 2, 2) and
 ˆ
P3 (2, 0, 2). A ray given by vector r  ˆi  2ˆj  3k
is incident on this plane mirror. Find the unit
vector in the direction of the reflected ray.
You are given a parabolic mirror whose inner
surface is silvered. The equation of the curve
formed by its intersection with x-y plane is given
by y=x2. A ray travelling in x-y plane along line
y=2x+15 hits this mirror in the second quadrant
and gets reflected. Find the unit vector in the
direction of the reflected ray.
Write the law of reflection of a light beam from
a mirror in vector form, using the directing unit
vectors â and bˆ for the incident and reflected
beams and the unit vector n̂ of the outside
normal to the mirror surface.
Demonstrate that a light beam reflected from
three mutually perpendicular plane mirrors in
succession reverses its direction.
In the arrangement shown in the figure light is
repeatedly reflected from the moving mirrors.
The mirrors are placed on discs revolving in
different directions.
(a) The angular velocity  of rotation of the
disks being known, find the angular velocity 
of rotation of beam that is consecutively
reflected n times from the mirrors.
(b) Determine the linear velocity of the nth
image of S at the moment when the mirrors are
parallel to each other and their reflecting
portions move with a velocity v in different
 the mirror.
(b) Path of the image as seen by the particle
will be a straight line.
34. 3m
35. 9 metres

48. Solve the previous problems, if the discs rotate

in the same direction.
49. A narrow beam of light S is incident on a system
of two identical plane mirrors secured on axis 36.
O, forming an angle  = 60° as shown in figure.
After being reflected from the mirrors, the light
is focussed by lens L and gets into stationary
receiver R. The mirror system rotates with a 37. 100 m/s
constant angular velocity. 38. V = 2x sec2
L R
39. (i) Total three images are formed. (ii) Infinite

A  s
i
a r

N
O B

What part of the light energy of the beam will

reach the receiver during a time that greatly
exceeds the period of rotation if the beam
passes at a distance a from an axis equal to
half the length of mirror OM?
Hint : (Don’t read it if you think that you are
1 ˆ ˆ ˆ
intelligent!) . A system of two plane mirrors 40. r̂ = - ( i + j + k)
placed at 60° always deviates a ray through 3
120°. So as long as the mirrors are in a position 41. 7, 2d
to reflect the ray, the ray will be deviated
through 120°, and it will be recieved by the 213iˆ  16ˆj  120kˆ
reciever. You just have to determine 42. b̂ 
245
geometrically that, for what fraction of time
during the circular motion, the mirrors will be ˆ
(3iˆ 2j
ˆ k)
positioned to reflect the light. 43. b̂ =
14
ANSWERS
1  59iˆ 58 
dA 8a 2 x2 ( x1v2  x2 v1 )   ĵ 
44. b̂ = 5  37 37 
26.  
dt ( x2  x1 ) 2
27. Position and dimensions of the spot will not
45. bˆ  aˆ  2(aˆ  nˆ ) nˆ
change. 46. Suppose n1, n2, n3 are the unit vectors of the
28. 12 cm by 4 cm normals to the planes of the given mirrors, and
e0, e1, e2, e3 are the unit vectors of the incident
29. The diameter of the umbra is 80 mm and the ray and the rays reflected from the first, second,
diameter of the penumbra is 560 mm. and the third mirror. Then e1 = e0 - 2(e0n1)n1, e2 =
30. 12mm e1 - 2(e 1n 2)n 2, e 3 = e 2 - 2(e 2n 3)n 3. Summing
31.  termwise the left-hand and right-hand sides of
these expressions, it can be readily shown that
32. At the centre of the room e3 = -e0.
v cos (tan   tan ) 47. (a)  = 2(2n - 1), (b) 2nv
33. (a) t = g
0 , n is even 0 , n is even
Hint: Image/Object relative velocity will be zero 48. (a)  = 2, n is odd  , (b) V = 2v , n is odd 
   
when the the velovity of object is parallel to
49. (1/6)th