Chapter 9: Light – Reflection and Refraction
Chapter learning goals: Understand the core concepts, explain key processes, interpret diagrams and apply the ideas to board-style questions.
Read each concept, mark definitions and formulae, practise the worked examples, then attempt the revision questions without looking at the answers.
1. Reflection and laws
Reflection is the return of light into the same medium after striking a surface. The incident ray, reflected ray and normal lie in one plane; angle of incidence equals angle of reflection (i = r). A plane mirror forms a virtual, erect, same-size image at equal distance behind the mirror.
2. Spherical mirrors
A concave mirror has reflecting surface curved inward; a convex mirror outward. Pole P is the centre of the mirror surface; principal axis passes through P and centre of curvature C; focal point F lies halfway between P and C for a small-aperture spherical mirror. Radius R = 2f. Concave mirrors can form real/inverted or virtual/erect images; convex mirrors form virtual, erect, diminished images.
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