Can Concave Mirrors Focus Sunlight and How Do Pinhole Glasses Work?

  • Thread starter Thread starter franz32
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
Concave mirrors can effectively reflect sunlight, as any mirror can perform this function. Observing mistletoe closely can create an upside-down view of the room, but mistletoe itself is not a mirror. Pinhole glasses can provide a clearer image for those with vision problems by limiting the light entering the eye, although they are not as effective as traditional glasses. The concept behind pinhole vision is that it minimizes errors caused by the eye's lens, allowing for a clearer image. However, while using multiple pinholes can enhance brightness, it still does not match the clarity of properly fitted eyeglasses.
franz32
Messages
133
Reaction score
0
Hello... I need some help... :-P

Can I use concave mirrors to reflect sunlight?

If I look very close at a mistletoe, Why can I view the entire room upside down? Is mistletoe a mirror of sort?

And, is it true that there is a special eyeglass that is as effective as an ordinary eyeglass in a way that instead of using lenses, the special eyeglass has numerous punholes which allow light to pass so the user can see object clearly?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
i can answer the first one easily,
yes you can use a concave mirror to relfect sunlight. any mirror in fact should do this.

is mistletoe a shine leaf plant? if it is that's perfectly possible
 
Yes a pin hole can provide a relatively clear image even if your vision is poor. A sheet with many pin holes can nearly act like glasses BUT the intensity of the image is very low, so it is not nearly as good a that provided by a properly fit pair of glasses.

The reason that this works is that most vision problems are caused by the lens in you eye not focusing an image in the correct plane (on your retina) The reason it does not work correctly is due to large scale errors in the shape of the lens. If you restrict the incident light to a pin hole only a very small section of your lens effects the light, thus the errors induced by your lens are much smaller.

A pin hole is a very effective lens of its own, the original camera, called a camera obscura, was simply a pin hole in the wall of a dark room, an image of the outside sun lit street appeared on the opposite wall.

One could argue that since the light from a pin hole encounters such a small area of your eye that the eye does not act like a lens at all, you are simply seeing the camera obscura image on your retina.

When more pin holes are used the image brightens, but it is still not as bright as a properly fit set of glasses.
 
Hi Erienion! For your mistletoe... yes. =)
 
So I know that electrons are fundamental, there's no 'material' that makes them up, it's like talking about a colour itself rather than a car or a flower. Now protons and neutrons and quarks and whatever other stuff is there fundamentally, I want someone to kind of teach me these, I have a lot of questions that books might not give the answer in the way I understand. Thanks

Similar threads

Back
Top