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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 ] The angle of the incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the surface normal (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface).
Spherical mirrors, however, suffer from spherical aberration—parallel rays reflected from such mirrors do not focus to a single point. For parallel rays, such as those coming from a very distant object, a parabolic reflector can do a better job. Such a mirror can focus incoming parallel rays to a much smaller spot than a spherical mirror can.
They showed that the mirror reflection point can be computed by solving an eighth degree equation in the most general case. If the camera (eye) is placed on the axis of the mirror, the degree of the equation reduces to six. [15] Alhazen's problem can also be extended to multiple refractions from a spherical ball.
For mirrors with parabolic surfaces, parallel rays incident on the mirror produce reflected rays that converge at a common focus. Other curved surfaces may also focus light, but with aberrations due to the diverging shape causing the focus to be smeared out in space. In particular, spherical mirrors exhibit spherical aberration. Curved mirrors ...
Stereographic projection of the unit sphere from the north pole onto the plane z = 0, shown here in cross section. The unit sphere S 2 in three-dimensional space R 3 is the set of points (x, y, z) such that x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1.
The image in a flat mirror has these features: It is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front. It is the same size as the object. It is the right way up (erect). It is reversed. It is virtual, meaning that the image appears to be behind the mirror, and cannot be projected onto a screen.
A Paul design has a parabolic primary with spherical secondary and tertiary mirrors; a Paul–Baker design modifies the secondary slightly to flatten the focal plane. A three-mirror anastigmat is an anastigmat telescope built with three curved mirrors, enabling it to minimize all three main optical aberrations – spherical aberration, coma ...
It is used extensively in architecture when calculating the arc necessary to span a certain height and distance and also in optics where it is used to find the depth of a spherical mirror or lens. The name comes directly from Latin sagitta , meaning an " arrow ".