Mirror Gain

Supadog

Hi,

I've asked someone to make me a parabolic mirror for a robot and they want to know the 'mirror gain' i would like. Does anybody know what 'mirror gain' is?

thanks

brewnog

If the mirror is pointing straight back at the light source, the light will be "concentrated" if you will, onto a smaller projected area, but with a greater intensity, directly back in the direction it came. Think of the bright flash you get instantaneously from a lighthouse or fire engine warning light. The gain is just the ratio of the two intensities. (Although, depending on how you want to express the gain, it may be a log of this ratio).