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Plane mirror. A plane mirror showing the virtual image of an urn nearby. A diagram of an object in two plane mirrors that formed an angle bigger than 90 degrees, causing the object to have three reflections. A plane mirror is a mirror with a flat (planar) reflective surface. [1][2] For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection ...
Geometrical optics. Geometrical optics, or ray optics, is a model of optics that describes light propagation in terms of rays. The ray in geometrical optics is an abstraction useful for approximating the paths along which light propagates under certain circumstances. The simplifying assumptions of geometrical optics include that light rays:
Each optical element (surface, interface, mirror, or beam travel) is described by a 2 × 2 ray transfer matrix which operates on a vector describing an incoming light ray to calculate the outgoing ray. Multiplication of the successive matrices thus yields a concise ray transfer matrix describing the entire optical system.
Specular reflection, or regular reflection, is the mirror -like reflection of waves, such as light, from a surface. [1] The law of reflection states that a reflected ray of light emerges from the reflecting surface at the same angle to the surface normal as the incident ray, but on the opposing side of the surface normal in the plane formed by ...
In optics, a ray is an idealized geometrical model of light or other electromagnetic radiation, obtained by choosing a curve that is perpendicular to the wavefronts of the actual light, and that points in the direction of energy flow. [1][2] Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by dividing the real light ...
The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to the optical system's primary mirror entrance aperture. This design puts the focal point at a convenient ...
In other words, a virtual image is found by tracing real rays that emerge from an optical device (lens, mirror, or some combination) backward to perceived or apparent origins of ray divergences. [1] There is a concept virtual object that is similarly defined; an object is virtual when forward extensions of rays converge toward it. [1] This is ...
A real image is the collection of focus points actually made by converging/diverging rays, while a virtual image is the collection of focus points made by extensions of diverging or converging rays. In other words, a real image is an image which is located in the plane of convergence for the light rays that originate from a given object.