Curved Mirror
- A curve is part of a circle. Therefore
- the centre of the circle will also be the centre of the curve and is called the centre of curvature, and
- the radius of the circle will be equal to the radius of the curve, called the curvature radius.
Important Terms
All rays parallel to the principle axis will focus at F
| Centre of curvature, C | The geometric centre of a hollow sphere of which the concave or convex mirror is a part. |
| Pole of mirror, P | The centre point on the curved mirror. |
| Principal axis | A line which passes through the centre of curvature, C and the pole of a curved mirror, P. |
| Radius of curvature, r | Distance between the pole, P and the centre of curvature, C. |
| Principal focus, F | A point through which all rays travelling parallel to the principal axis converge to or appear to diverge from after reflection by the mirror. |
| Focal length, f | The distance between the principal focus, F and the pole of the curved mirror, P. |
| Aperture of mirror | The portion of the surface of the mirror that reflects light. |
| Object distance, u | Distance of object from the pole of the mirror, P. |
| Image distance, v | Distance of image from the pole of the mirror, |