Plane and Spherical Mirrors PHY13L – E402

Name Sec Score

GUIDE QUESTIONS Answer in complete sentences.

1. Explain why the focal length of a plane mirror is infinite, and explain what it means for the focal point to be at infinity.
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2. If a spherical mirror is immersed in water, does its focal length change? Explain.
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3. For what range of object positions does a concave spherical mirror form a real image? What about a convex spherical mirror?
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4. An object is placed in front of a concave spherical mirror as shown below.

The three rays 1, 2, and 3, leave the top of the object and, after reflection,
converge at a point on the top of the image. Ray 1 is parallel to the
principal axis, ray 2 passes through F, and ray 3 passes through C.
(a) Which ray will pass through F after reflection? _______________________
(b) Which ray will reflect back on itself (themselves)? _______________________
(c) Describe the image formed in terms of:
i. type (virtual/real) _______________________
ii. orientation (upright/inverted) _______________________
iii. size (enlarged, reduced or same size) _______________________

PROBLEM SOLVING Solve the problem below in the given space below. Use the back of this page if you need more space.
A woman stands 2.5 m in front of a convex mirror and notices that her image height is 1/5 of her actual height.
(a) What is the height of her image?
(b) What is the object and image distance?
(c) What is the focal length and radius of curvature of the mirror.

Ernest P. Macalalad, Ph.D.