DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> Concave mirror

If you click and drag the red dots you will be able to study how images are formed in this concave mirror. You can modify the radius of the mirror's curvature and the size and distance of the image. You can observe the nitidity of the specular image.

The visual shows three theoretical images which are those defined by the intersection of the three rays. The image in reality is always a little diffuse and is the product of the partial convergence of all the rays. The phenomenon which is responsible for making spherical mirrors produce recognisable images in practice is due to the fact that when the object which is going to be reflected is small, that is, when the angles of incidence are all small, all the reflected rays pass very close to the same point. This produces a more or less nitid image which is the one we see and which is an enlargement or a reduction depending on whether the object is nearer to or farther from the radius of the mirror. 

The visual was prepared by José Luis Abreu

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Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte