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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 reflective surface. [1] [2] For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. [3]
A concave mirror, or converging mirror, has a reflecting surface that is recessed inward (away from the incident light). Concave mirrors reflect light inward to one focal point. They are used to focus light. Unlike convex mirrors, concave mirrors show different image types depending on the distance between the object and the mirror.
The only ideal system that has been achieved in practice is a plane mirror, [2] however the cardinal points are widely used to approximate the behavior of real optical systems. Cardinal points provide a way to analytically simplify an optical system with many components, allowing the imaging characteristics of the system to be approximately ...
Combining a number of mirrors, prisms, and lenses produces compound optical instruments which have practical uses. For example, a periscope is simply two plane mirrors aligned to allow for viewing around obstructions. The most famous compound optical instruments in science are the microscope and the telescope which were both invented by the ...
The image in a plane mirror is not magnified (that is, the image is the same size as the object) and appears to be as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror. A diverging lens (one that is thicker at the edges than the middle) or a concave mirror forms a virtual image. Such an image is reduced in size when compared to the ...
In geometry, the mirror image of an object or two-dimensional figure is the virtual image formed by reflection in a plane mirror; it is of the same size as the original object, yet different, unless the object or figure has reflection symmetry (also known as a P-symmetry).
A convex secondary mirror is placed just to the side of the light entering the telescope, and positioned afocally so as to send parallel light on to the tertiary. The concave tertiary mirror is positioned exactly twice as far to the side of the entering beam as was the convex secondary, and its own radius of curvature distant from the secondary.
[3] [4] [5] He was first to state that the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface all lie in a same plane perpendicular to reflecting plane. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Specular reflection may be contrasted with diffuse reflection , in which light is scattered away from the surface in a range of directions.