Images in a Plane Mirror
A plane mirror is a mirror with a flat reflective surface. Scientists refer to the object that is in front of the mirror as the object and the picture that is seen in the mirror as the image.
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There are 2 different ways to locate an image in a plane mirror:
Using Light Rays to Locate an Image:
Light rays travel in a straight line, to locate the image draw incident rays and reflected rays from the object to the mirror and extend the reflected rays beyond the mirror (using dashes) and where the dashed lines intercept is the location of the image. Repeating this procedure will lead to the location of the image.
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| Where the dashed lines(extended reflected lines) intercept is a point on the image |
Using Equal Perpendicular Lines to Locate an Image:
Using equal perpendicular lines to locate an image is drawing a line from the object to the mirror, then extending the line from the mirror to the image, this is referred to as the object-image line and the distance from mirror to the image should equal the distance from the object to the mirror.The object-image line is perpendicular to the surface of the mirror.
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| The distance from one point of the object to the mirror is the same as the distance from the mirror to the image. |
Real and Virtual Images:
There are actually no light ray going to image from behind the mirror because the mirror reflects the light rays due to the fact that is has a reflective surface. The light rays only appear to the human eye to be coming from the image. The image seen behind the mirror is known as a virtual image.
A way to differ real images from virtual images is to place a screen under the image and if light reflects of the image then the image is real because light can not get behind a plane mirror due to its reflective surface.
The 4 Characteristics of Images: S.A.L.T
These characteristics are used to describe properties of an image.
Size: is the image the same size, bigger, or smaller than the object
Attitude: the orientation of the image
Location: the same distance as the object, closer to, or farther than
Type: is it a real image or a virtual image
In a plane mirror the virtual image is the same size as the object, the image has the same attitude as the object, the image is the same distance away from the object to the mirror, and the image is virtual.
By: Deshawn and Emmanuel
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