Reflection and Mirrors Module

This Reflection and Mirrors module consists of 11 missions (assignments) that address such topics as the law of reflection, diffuse and regular reflection, image formation, and ray diagrams and image characteristics ofr plane mirrors, concave mirrors and convex mirrors. The 11 missions and the corresponding objectives are listed below.  Tap a mission's name to begin.
 

Quick Links to Missions:

 

Mission Objectives:

Mission RM1: Law of Reflection

• The student should be able to identify and apply the definitions of the angle of incidence, the angle of reflection, incident ray and reflected ray.
• The student should be able to apply the law of reflection in order to identify the angle of incidence and reflection if given other angle information.

 

Mission RM2: Plane Mirror Images

• The student should be able to explain what an image is and describe how it is formed as a result of reflected light.
• The student should be able to identify image characteristics such as location and orientation.

 
 

Mission RM3: Plane Mirror Ray Tracing

• The student should be able to identify where an eye must sight to view an image of an object and to trace the path of light from the object to the eye.
• The student should be able to use the line of sight method to determine what objects an eye can see when sighting in a mirror.

 
 

Mission RM4: Regular vs. Diffuse Reflection

• The student should be able to identify the distinction between regular and diffuse reflection in terms of both the cause and the effect.

 
 

Mission RM5: Concave Mirror Ray Tracing

• The student should be able to identify the basic rules of reflection for concave mirrors and describe the usefulness of such rules in determining the image location for an object.
• The student should be able to recognize and distinguish between correct and incorrect ray diagrams.

 
 

Mission RM6: Concave Mirror Images

• The student should be able to identify the characteristics of the images (size, location, orientation, and type) which are produced by concave mirrors.
• The student should be able to use an understanding of image characteristics to match an image with a given object based on the image size, location and orientation.

 
 

Mission RM7: Concave Mirror Mathematics

• The student should be able to use the mirror equation to predict the image distance if the object distance and focal length are known (or to predict the focal length which is required to produce a known image and object distance). (For concave mirrors)
• The student should be able to combine the mirror equation and magnification ratio to predict either the image distance or image height and magnification for a known object distance and focal length. (For concave mirrors)

 
 

Mission RM8: Convex Mirror Ray Tracing

• The student should be able to identify the basic rules of reflection for convex mirrors and to describe the usefulness of such rules in determining the image location.
• The student should be able to recognize and distinguish between correct and incorrect ray diagrams.

 
 

Mission RM9: Convex Mirror Images

• The student should be able to identify the characteristics of images formed by convex mirrors and contrast such images to those formed by concave mirrors.
• The student should be able to recognize the approximate location, orientation and size of a convex mirror image if given a diagram with the object position.

 

Mission RM10: Convex Mirror Mathematics

• The student should be able to use the mirror equation to predict the image distance if the object distance and focal length are known (or to predict the focal length which is required to produce a known image and object distance). (For convex mirrors.)
• The student should be able to combine the mirror equation and magnification ratio to predict either the image distance or image height and magnification for a known object distance and focal length. (For convex mirrors.)

 

 

Mission RM11: Real and Virtual images

• The student should know what an image is and be able to recognize the distinction between real and virtual images.
• The student should be able to compare and contrast various mirror systems (plane, concave, convex) in terms of their ability or tendency to produce real and/or virtual images of objects.

 
 

 

 

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