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Concept
Plane mirror
Summary
A plane mirror is a mirror with a flat (planar) reflective surface. For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. The angle of the incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the surface normal (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface). Therefore, the angle of reflection is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal and a collimated beam of light does not spread out after reflection from a plane mirror, except for diffraction effects.
A plane mirror makes an image of objects in front of the mirror; these images appear to be behind the plane in which the mirror lies. A straight line drawn from part of an object to the corresponding part of its image makes a right angle with, and is bisected by, the surface of the plane mirror. The image formed by a plane mirror is (meaning that the light rays do not actually come from the image) it is not (meaning that the light rays do actually come from the image). it is always upright, and of the same shape and size as the object it is reflecting. A virtual image is a copy of an object formed at the location from which the light rays appear to come. Actually, the image formed in the mirror is a perverted image (Perversion), there is a misconception among people about having confused with perverted and laterally-inverted image. If a person is reflected in a plane mirror, the image of his right hand appears to be the left hand of the image.
Plane mirrors are the only type of mirror for which a object produces an image that is virtual, erect and of the same size as the object in all cases irrespective of the shape, size and distance from mirror of the object however same is possible for other types of mirror (concave and convex) but only for a specific conditions . However the focal length of a plane mirror is infinity; its optical power is zero.
Using the mirror equation, where is the object distance, is the image distance, and is the focal length:
Since ,
Concave and Convex mirrors (spherical mirrors) are also able to produce images similar to a plane mirror.
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