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Reflection of Light — Class 9 Maharashtra SSC Science revision notes

A 3-page visual revision sheet for Reflection of Light, written for Class 9 Maharashtra SSC Science. Formulas, diagrams and the traps that cost marks, laid out to be read the night before rather than the term before. Free, and it opens inside CapCompass.

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Reflection of Light in one look

the two laws, the images that curved mirrors form, and the sign convention that predicts them

The laws of reflection

  • first law: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, ∠i = ∠r
  • second law: the incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal all lie in one plane
  • the normal is the perpendicular to the surface at the point where the ray strikes, and every angle is measured from it
  • regular reflection from a smooth surface sends parallel rays off still parallel, which is what forms an image
  • diffuse reflection from a rough surface scatters them in all directions, which is why we can see an ordinary wall from anywhere
  • the laws hold in both cases. Diffuse reflection is not a failure of the laws, only a surface whose normals point every way

The plane mirror

  • the image is virtual, formed behind the mirror where no light actually reaches, so it cannot be caught on a screen
  • it is the same size as the object and as far behind the mirror as the object is in front
  • it is upright, and it is laterally inverted: left and right appear exchanged
  • lateral inversion is why the word AMBULANCE is painted reversed on the front of the vehicle, so a driver ahead reads it correctly in the mirror
  • to see your whole body you need a mirror only half your height, wherever you stand, which follows from the equal angles
  • two mirrors at an angle form several images, and the number rises as the angle between them narrows

Curved mirrors

  • a concave mirror curves inward and converges parallel rays to a real focus in front of it
  • a convex mirror curves outward and diverges them, so they only appear to come from a focus behind it
  • the pole is the centre of the mirror, the centre of curvature C is the centre of the sphere it is part of, and F lies midway between them
  • so the focal length is half the radius of curvature, f = R/2
  • a concave mirror can form both real and virtual images depending on where the object stands
  • a convex mirror always forms a virtual, upright, diminished image, whatever the object distance

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