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A plane mirror is a mirror with a flat reflective surface. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. [ 3 ] The angle of the incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the surface normal (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface).
Thus reflection is a reversal of the coordinate axis perpendicular to the mirror's surface. Although a plane mirror reverses an object only in the direction normal to the mirror surface, this turns the entire three-dimensional image seen in the mirror inside-out, so there is a perception of a left-right reversal. Hence, the reversal is somewhat ...
The image in a plane mirror is not magnified (that is, the image is the same size as the object) and appears to be as far behind the mirror as the object is in front of the mirror. A diverging lens (one that is thicker at the edges than the middle) or a concave mirror forms a virtual image. Such an image is reduced in size when compared to the ...
Reflection of light is either specular (mirror-like) or diffuse (retaining the energy, but losing the image) depending on the nature of the interface.In specular reflection the phase of the reflected waves depends on the choice of the origin of coordinates, but the relative phase between s and p (TE and TM) polarizations is fixed by the properties of the media and of the interface between them.
Combining a number of mirrors, prisms, and lenses produces compound optical instruments which have practical uses. For example, a periscope is simply two plane mirrors aligned to allow for viewing around obstructions. The most famous compound optical instruments in science are the microscope and the telescope which were both invented by the ...
Optical systems can be folded using plane mirrors; the system is still considered to be rotationally symmetric if it possesses rotational symmetry when unfolded. Any point on the optical axis (in any space) is an axial point. Rotational symmetry greatly simplifies the analysis of optical systems, which otherwise must be analyzed in three ...
The image in a flat mirror has these features: It is the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front. It is the same size as the object. It is the right way up (erect). It is reversed. It is virtual, meaning that the image appears to be behind the mirror, and cannot be projected onto a screen.
In other words, a real image is an image which is located in the plane of convergence for the light rays that originate from a given object. Examples of real images include the image produced on a detector in the rear of a camera, and the image produced on an eyeball retina (the camera and eye focus light through an internal convex lens).