Question

how does a concave mirror help in Solar cooking

Answer 1

A solar cooker uses the energy of sunlight to pasteurize drinks or cook food. Many of these cookers on the market today are relatively inexpensive thanks to the creative use of the materials used to make these units. However, one of the frequently asked questions when it comes to these units is; “which kind of mirror is used in a solar cooker?” well, we have compiled a post on the best type of mirror that should be used in the best solar cooker and why they are used; Why Are Concave Mirrors Used In Solar Cooker?

• Concave mirrors are the best mirrors to use in these cookers. This is because they are the only types of mirrors that reflect sunlight in towards a single focal point.
• If you use a convex mirror for your cooker, it will not work since they do not have a focal point.
• A convex mirror reflects light to an imaginary point that exists behind the surface of the mirror.
• This will make the light reflect up and away from the convex mirror focal point. A flat mirror, on the other hand, doesn’t have a focal point; it reflects off all of its lights on different points meaning that it cannot be used to harness solar energy.

• The concave mirror takes all light that comes on its surface and reflects it all towards the focal point.
• The reflected light at the focal point is extremely powerful. It carries a lot of thermal energy and is very bright.
• The thermal energy produced is equivalent to taking a magnifying glass to burn a piece of paper.
• The concave mirror works in the same way as the magnifying glass as both collect light from the sun and gathers it into a single point. The cooking pot is placed on the focal point where the light is concentrated. The energy is powerful enough to smelt weak metals and melt salt.
• However, for a solar cooker, the temperatures are designed to achieve temperatures of 65-400 degrees Celsius on a sunny day.