A mirror is a reflective surface that can bounce off light and produce an image that can be either virtual or real. If a body is positioned in front of the mirror, then that body’s image is optically visible in the mirror. A body positioned in front of a mirror is the source, and incident rays emerge from it. Reflected rays can generate an image, and images that are said to be virtual or real can only be confirmed by analysing the light interaction. When light rays intersect, the image generated is real. Virtual images can be generated only when there is a clear divergence of rays from that specific point. Mirrors are extensively classified into two distinct types and are designed in several kinds of shapes for multiple purposes. The two most basic mirror types are spherical mirrors and plane mirrors. Fundamentally, spherical mirrors usually have steady curves and a uniform radius of curvatures. Images that spherical mirrors can generate can either be virtual or real. There are two types of spherical mirrors; they are concave mirrors and convex mirrors. Let’s go deeper into the fundamentals of convex mirrors.
What is a Convex Mirror?
A convex mirror is a mirror whose reflective surface projects out towards the light source. These mirrors bounce light outwards, so they are not employed to focus light. Convex mirrors generate a virtual image as the focal point, and the centre of curvature is imaginary junctions inside the mirror. It cannot be physically reached (virtual image). As a result, the images generated by these special mirrors are incompatible for projecting on a screen since the images are inside the mirrors. The images are smaller than the subjects but get bigger as the subjects approach the mirror. A parallel beam of light diverges after reflection by the surface of a convex mirror because the normal to the surface varies at mirror’s each spot.
Convex Mirror Image
The images on a convex mirror are consistently virtual, diminished, and upright. In reality, in this case, a ray has not actually penetrated through the image; only its extension did, just like in a normal mirror. As the subjects get nearer to the mirror, the images get bigger until approximately the subject’s size when they touch the mirror. As the subjects move away, the images diminish in size and get gradually nearer to the focus until they are reduced to a point (observable) when the subject is at an infinite distance. These properties make a convex mirror very useful. As everything looks smaller in this spherical mirror, it covers a wider field of view relative to a conventional plane mirror. Thus, it is useful for observing vehicles while driving and a wide area for surveillance.
Uses of Convex Mirrors
A convex mirror is generally fixed in the hallways of schools, apartments, hotels, and hospitals to provide a wider view of the entire space. Also, these spherical mirrors are used in roads, alleys and driveways to provide drivers with a wider view at turns, curves and other junctions where there is imperfect visibility.
Convex mirrors are used in most automated teller machines (ATMs) as an essential security feature that enables users to observe what all is occurring behind them.
Important Convex Mirror Questions with Answers
1) What is meant by a mirror?
A mirror is a reflective surface that has the ability to bounce off light and produce an image that can be either virtual or real.
2) Explain the image formation in a mirror?
If there is a body positioned in front of the mirror, then that body’s image is optically visible in the mirror. A body positioned in front of a mirror is the source, and incident rays emerge from it. An image can be generated by reflected rays, and images that are said to be virtual or real can only be confirmed by analysing the light interaction. When light rays intersect, the image generated is real. Virtual images can be generated only when there is a clear divergence of rays from that specific point.
3) What are the main two types of mirrors?
Mirrors are extensively classified into two distinct types and are designed in several kinds of shapes for multiple purposes. The two most basic mirror types are spherical mirrors and plane mirrors. Fundamentally, spherical mirrors usually have steady curves and a uniform radius of curvatures. Images that can be generated by spherical mirrors can either be virtual or real.
4) What are the main two types of spherical mirrors?
There are two types of spherical mirrors. They are concave mirrors and convex mirrors.
5) What are the fundamental concepts of a convex mirror?
A convex mirror is a mirror whose reflective surface projects out towards the source of light. These mirrors bounce light outwards, so they are not employed to focus light. Convex mirrors generate a virtual image as the focal point, and the centre of curvature is imaginary junctions inside the mirror. It cannot be physically reached (virtual image). As a result, the images generated by these special mirrors are incompatible for projecting on a screen since the images are inside the mirrors. The images are smaller than the subjects but get bigger as the subjects approach the mirror. A parallel beam of light diverges after reflection by the surface of a convex mirror because the normal to the surface varies at each spot.
6) Explain the characteristics of images generated by convex mirrors.
The images on a convex mirror are consistently virtual, diminished, and upright. In reality, in this case, a ray has not actually penetrated through the image; only its extension did, just like in a normal mirror. As the subjects get nearer to the mirror, the images get bigger until approximately the subject’s size when they touch the mirror. As the subjects move away, the images diminish in size and get gradually nearer to the focus until they are reduced to a point (observable) when the subject is at an infinite distance.
7) What is the nature of the field of view in convex mirrors?
As everything looks smaller in this spherical mirror, it covers a wider field of view relative to a conventional plane mirror.
8) What are the most familiar uses of convex mirrors?
A convex mirror is generally fixed in the hallways of schools, apartments, hotels, and hospitals to provide a wider view of the entire space. Also, these spherical mirrors are used in roads, alleys and driveways to provide drivers with a wider view at turns, curves and other junctions where there is imperfect visibility.
Convex mirrors are used in most automated teller machines (ATMs) as an essential security feature that enables users to observe what all is occurring behind them.
9) The images generated by _____ mirrors are incompatible for projecting on a screen since the images are inside the mirrors.
Answer: convex
Explanation: The images generated by convex mirrors are incompatible for projecting on a screen since the images are inside the mirrors.
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Practice Questions
1) What is meant by a real image?
2) What is meant by a virtual image?
3) What are the main differences between a convex mirror and a concave mirror?
4) What are the differences between a plane mirror and a spherical mirror?
5) What is meant by a concave mirror?
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