Uses of Concave Mirror

 

Uses of Concave Mirrors

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Concave mirrors are used for the following purposes:

The following table gives the position, size and nature of the image formed in a concave mirror corresponding to different positions of the object and the use of concave mirror.

Position of the object	Position of the image	Nature and size of the image	Use
At infinity	At the focus	Real, inverted and diminished	As collector of radiation in solar heating devices
Beyond the centre of curvature	Between the focus and the centre of curvature	Real, inverted and diminished
At the centre of curvature	At centre of curvature	Real, inverted and same size as object	As a reflecting mirror behind a projector lamp
Between the focus and centre of curvature	Beyond the centre of curvature	Real, inverted and magnified	In flood lights
At focus	At infinity	Real, inverted and magnified	As a reflecting mirror in car, head lights, search lights etc.
Between the pole of the mirror and the focus	Appears behind the mirror	Virtual, erect and magnified	As a shaving mirror or makeup mirror and dentist’s mirror

Case II Convex Mirror

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The following rays are considered while constructing ray diagrams.

• A ray of light traveling parallel to the principal axis after reflection from a convex mirror appear to come from its focus behind the mirror.

• A ray of light traveling towards the center of curvature behind the mirror hits the mirror at 90^o and is reflected back along its path.

• A convex mirror always gives a virtual image irrespective of the position of the object.