Ray Diagrams for Curved Mirrors

3 Rays to draw:
1. PARALLEL - FOCAL
a. Incident Ray: Draw a ray, parallel to the principal axis, passing through the top of the object.
b. Reflected Ray: back through the focal point.

2. FOCAL - PARALLEL
a. Incident Ray: Draw a ray passing through the focal point and the top of the object.
b. Reflected Ray: back parallel to the principal axis.

3. CENTRE TOP
a. Incident Ray: from the centre of curvature to the top of the object.
b. Reflected Ray: back along the incident ray.

CONCAVE MIRRORS
Type 1: Between the Focal Point and the Mirror

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Type 2: Between the Focal Point and the Centre of Curvature

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Type 3: After the Centre of Curvature

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Type 4: At the Focal Point

Type 5: At the Centre of Curvature

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 Convex Mirror

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Practice:

1) The distance from a make-up mirror to C (the radius of curvature) is 70cm. How far from the mirror
can a person be and still see an upright, magnified image?

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2) Draw a ray diagram to determine the position of an image formed by a concave mirror that has a focal
length of 3.0 cm and a 2.0 m tall object positioned 6.0 cm from the mirror.

3) What type of mirror would you use if you need to view a large, spread-out area in a small mirror?
Explain.

4) Compare the shapes of convex and concave mirrors. How are they similar and how do they differ?

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 IMAGES IN A CONCAVE MIRROR

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