Physics Kenya
Reflection at Curved Surfaces
Reflection at Curved Surfaces
Reflection at Curved Surfaces
Concave and convex parabolic reflectors
Principal axis, principal focus, centre of curvature and related terms
Terms used in studying curved mirrors
- Centre of curvature (C):the centre of the sphere of which a mirror is a part of.
- Radius of curvature (r): the radius of sphere of which a mirror is a part of. Radius of curvature is double the focal length. That is r=f/2.
- Pole (P): the central point of the reflecting surface of spherical mirror (curved or convex mirror).
- Principal axis:the straight line joining the centre of curvature (C) and the pole (P).
- Principal focus (F):the point on the principal axis where light rays tend to intersect after being reflected. This point is between centre of curvature and the pole. In concave mirror, parallel rays to the principal axis meet at the principal focus after reflection. In convex mirror, parallel rays to the principal axis appear to originate from the principal focus behind the mirror after reflection.
- Focal length (f): the distance from the pole of the mirror to the principal focus. Focal length is half the radius of curvature.
Location of Images formed by curved mirrors by construction method (Experiment on concave mirrors required)
Magnefication formula
Applications of curved reflectors
Listening to this topic
