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Spherical Mirror Sign Convention Guide

The document outlines the New Cartesian Sign Convention for reflection by spherical mirrors, defining the pole as the origin and the principal axis as the x-axis. It describes the measurement of object and image distances, as well as the concepts of focal length and magnification, including their formulas and sign conventions. Magnification is explained as the ratio of image height to object height, with specific rules for determining the sign based on the type of image (real or virtual).

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Abhishek Ankit
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5 views6 pages

Spherical Mirror Sign Convention Guide

The document outlines the New Cartesian Sign Convention for reflection by spherical mirrors, defining the pole as the origin and the principal axis as the x-axis. It describes the measurement of object and image distances, as well as the concepts of focal length and magnification, including their formulas and sign conventions. Magnification is explained as the ratio of image height to object height, with specific rules for determining the sign based on the type of image (real or virtual).

Uploaded by

Abhishek Ankit
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

 Sign Convention for Reflection by Spherical

Mirrors aka New Cartesian Sign Convention


 the pole (P) of the mirror is taken as the origin.

 The principal axis of the mirror is taken as the x-axis (X’X) of the
coordinate system.

 The conventions are as follows –

1. The object is always placed to the left of the mirror, so light falls from
the left.

2. Distances along the principal axis are measured from the mirror's pole.

3. Rightward distances (+x-axis) are positive; leftward (-x-axis) are negative.

4. Upward distances (+y-axis) are positive.

5. Downward distances (-y-axis) are negative.


 Mirror Formula and Magnification

1. Object Distance (u): Distance of the object from the mirror's pole.

2. Image Distance (v): Distance of the image from the mirror's pole.

3. Focal Length (f): Distance of the principal focus from the mirror's pole.
 Magnification : Magnification produced by a spherical
mirror is the ratio of the height of the image to the height of
the object. It indicates how much larger or smaller the image
is compared to the object.

Formula of magnification=

Relation with Object distance(u) and Image distance(v):

You may note that the height of the object is taken to be positive
as the object is usually placed above the principal axis. The height
of the image should be taken as positive for virtual images.
However, it is to be taken as negative for real images. A negative
sign in the value of the magnification indicates that the image is
real. A positive sign in the value of the magnification indicates
that the image is virtual.

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