Geometrical Optics - Light ray angles on a spherical mirror

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 5K views · last reply
I_laff
Messages
41
Reaction score
2
Ray diagram of a spherical concave mirror with centre C, vertex V, object O on the axis and image I; a ray from O hits the mirror at point P and reflects, with angles alpha, alpha prime, theta and phi marked, and radius R drawn from C to P.

I can't see how the textbook produces the following relationships between angles:
$$ \theta = \phi + \alpha \qquad (1)$$
$$ 2\theta = \alpha + \alpha ' \qquad (2)$$

My thinking is that the exterior angle theorem for triangles was used to create expression ##(1)##, but I am unsure as to how expression ##(2)## came about. Was the exterior angle theorem simply used twice to produce both equations?
 
Attachments
  • Ray diagram of a spherical concave mirror with centre C, vertex V, object O on the axis and image I; a ray from O hits the mirror at point P and reflects, with angles alpha, alpha prime, theta and phi marked, and radius R drawn from C to P.
    upload_2018-11-20_20-41-22.png
    3.9 KB · Views: 918
Physics news on Phys.org
(2) comes about by the exact same theorem as (1).

2θ,α,α′ is the identical setup as θ,α,ϕ - it just makes a stubbier triangle.

Two ray diagrams of a concave spherical mirror with centre C, vertex V, object O on the axis, and image I; a ray from O reflects at point P to the image, with angles theta, alpha and phi marked.
 
Attachments
  • Two ray diagrams of a concave spherical mirror with centre C, vertex V, object O on the axis, and image I; a ray from O reflects at point P to the image, with angles theta, alpha and phi marked.
    angles.png
    7.7 KB · Views: 610