The Nature of Shadows Produced by Various Mirrors

KOMPAS.com – Light is a wave that will bounce if about a surface, including about mirror. The light that comes to the surface of the mirror will produce properties shadow different depending on the type of mirror.

Reflection of light on a mirror

Mirror will reflect light into two types of shadows, namely real images and virtual images. Shadow Reality is an image formed from pieces of reflected light lines and can be captured by the screen.

While the virtual image is the intersection of the extended lines of reflected light. Virtual images cannot be captured by the screen and can only be seen in a mirror.

The image will differ according to the type of mirror that reflects. There are 3 types of mirrors, namely plane mirrors, concave mirrorand convex mirror.

1. Shadow formation on a flat mirror

A flat mirror is a mirror whose reflected surface is a flat plane. The incoming light will be reflected back fulfilling the law of reflection. The nature of the shadow formed by a flat mirror is virtual, upright, and equal in size.

2. Shadow formation on concave mirrors

Concave mirror is a converging mirror, meaning that this mirror collects light rays. This mirror is widely used as a reflector in spotlights. A concave mirror reflects three special rays:

• Ray 1: the incident ray parallel to the principal axis, will be reflected through the focus.
• Ray 2: The ray that comes through the focus will be reflected parallel to the principal axis.
• Ray 3: the ray that comes through the center of curvature will be reflected back through the center of curvature.

In general, the nature of the image formed by a concave mirror if the object is located between the focus and the center of curvature, then it is real, inverted, and reduced.

Also read: What Color Do Chameleons Look Like in a Room Full of Mirrors?

3. Shadow formation on convex mirrors

The properties of a convex mirror are the opposite of a concave mirror. This mirror scatters light or is called diverging. Convex mirror also reflects three special rays, as follows:

• Ray 1: The incident ray is parallel to the principal axis, will be reflected as if it came from the focus.
• Ray 2: the incident ray towards the focus, will be reflected parallel to the principal axis.
• Ray 3: the ray coming towards the center of curvature, will be reflected back as if from the center of curvature.

With this principle, the nature of the image formed by a convex mirror is virtual, upright, and reduced.

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