What are Spherical Mirrors?

Spherical mirror is a type of mirror whose reflecting surface is the part of a hollow sphere of glass. There are two types of spherical mirrors: concave mirrors and convex mirrors.

Concave mirrors

The inward curve of these mirrors resembles the interior of a sphere. On the inside of the curve, they have a reflective surface. Concave mirrors are helpful for focusing light on devices like cosmetics mirrors, telescopes, and headlights because they can converge light rays to a focal point.

Convex mirrors

Convex mirrors protrude outward, resembling a sphere’s outside. On the outside of the curve, they have a reflective surface. Convex mirrors distort light waves, giving the impression that objects are wider and smaller than they actually are. They are frequently utilized in applications like security mirrors in retail establishments and rear-view mirrors in automobiles.

Check: Concave and Convex Mirrors

Image Formation by Spherical Mirror-You might have observed that the image formed in the side view mirror of a car is smaller while the image formed in the rear-view mirror is larger than the actual size of the objects. The dentist uses a small mirror to examine the teeth of a patient.

You might have also observed that for shaving purposes different mirrors are used. So, the different spherical mirrors are used for different purposes.

We will discuss the spherical mirror in this article.