Introduction
The purpose of this webpage is to provide students of physics with a basic understanding of the interactions between light and various mirrors and lenses.
Spherical Mirrors
Spherical mirrors are divided into two basic categories, concave and convex. The names are based on the shape of the reflecting surface. An inner curved reflecting surface is considered concave, and an outer curved reflecting surface is convex. In order to explain the basic characteristics of each of these types of mirrors, some common vocabulary must be presented. Many of the important vocabulary terms are shown in fig. 1 and explained below.
Principal Axis:
The principal axis is defined as a line that bisects a spherical mirror perpendicular to the tangent of the vertex (A) of the mirror.
Center of Curvature (C):
The center of curvature describes the center of the sphere that would be created if the spherical mirror were extended in all directions.
Focal Point:
The focal point of a mirror is the point that all light rays that come in traveling parallel to the principal axis either pass through (concave - converging) or reflect away from. (convex - diverging)
Focal Length:
The focal length is defined as the distance between the focal point (F) and the vertex of the mirror (A).
Main - Ray Tracing for Mirrors - Ray Tracing for Lenses - Using the Mathematical Equations - The Camera and the Human Eye