Geometrical Optics - Light ray angles on a spherical mirror

In summary, a spherical mirror is a curved mirror that can be either concave or convex. The difference between the two is that concave mirrors reflect light rays towards a focal point, while convex mirrors reflect light rays away from a focal point. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection on both types of spherical mirrors. The focal point of a spherical mirror is where all the parallel light rays converge or appear to diverge from. The image distance can be calculated using the mirror equation, which takes into account the focal length, object distance, and image distance.
  • #1
I_laff
41
2
upload_2018-11-20_20-41-22.png

I can't see how the textbook produces the following relationships between angles:
$$ \theta = \phi + \alpha \qquad (1)$$
$$ 2\theta = \alpha + \alpha ' \qquad (2)$$

My thinking is that the exterior angle theorem for triangles was used to create expression ##(1)##, but I am unsure as to how expression ##(2)## came about. Was the exterior angle theorem simply used twice to produce both equations?
 

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  • #2
(2) comes about by the exact same theorem as (1).

2θ,α,α′ is the identical setup as θ,α,ϕ - it just makes a stubbier triangle.

angles.png
 

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Related to Geometrical Optics - Light ray angles on a spherical mirror

1. What is a spherical mirror?

A spherical mirror is a type of mirror that has a curved surface, like a section of a sphere. It can either be a concave mirror, which curves inward, or a convex mirror, which curves outward.

2. What is the difference between a concave and convex spherical mirror?

A concave spherical mirror reflects light rays towards a focal point, while a convex spherical mirror reflects light rays away from a focal point. This results in a magnified and inverted image for concave mirrors and a smaller and upright image for convex mirrors.

3. How does the angle of incidence affect the angle of reflection on a spherical mirror?

According to the law of reflection, the angle of incidence (the angle between the incident light ray and the normal to the surface of the mirror) is equal to the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected light ray and the normal). This holds true for both concave and convex spherical mirrors.

4. What is the focal point of a spherical mirror?

The focal point of a spherical mirror is the point where all the light rays parallel to the principal axis (the line passing through the center of the mirror and the center of curvature) converge or appear to diverge from. For concave mirrors, the focal point is located in front of the mirror, while for convex mirrors, it is located behind the mirror.

5. How do you calculate the image distance on a spherical mirror?

The image distance can be calculated using the mirror equation, which states that the product of the object distance (distance between the object and the mirror) and the image distance is equal to the product of the focal length (distance between the focal point and the mirror) and the radius of curvature of the mirror. This equation is represented as: 1/f = 1/do + 1/di, where f is the focal length, do is the object distance, and di is the image distance.

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