Plane mirror

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A plane mirror is a

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 virtual (meaning that the light rays do not actually come from the image) it is not real image (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;^[4] its optical power is zero.

Using the mirror equation, where ${\displaystyle d_{0}}$ is the object distance, ${\displaystyle d_{i}}$ is the image distance, and ${\displaystyle f}$ is the focal length:

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{d_{0}}}+{\frac {1}{d_{i}}}={\frac {1}{f}}}$

Since ${\displaystyle [{\frac {1}{f}}=0]}$,

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{d_{0}}}=-{\frac {1}{d_{i}}}}$

${\displaystyle -d_{0}=d_{i}}$

Concave and Convex mirrors (

A plane mirror is made using some highly reflecting and polished surface such as a

Mathematically, a plane mirror can be considered to be the limit of either a concave or a convex spherical curved mirror as the radius, and therefore the focal length becomes infinity.^[4]

See also

• Geometrical optics
• Specular reflection
• Chinese magic mirror
• Law of reflection

References