Name the type of mirror used in the following situations.
(a) Headlights of a car.
(b) Side/rear-view mirror of a vehicle.
(c) Solar furnace.
Support your answer with reason.
Answer
(a) Headlights of a car
We use Concave mirror
When the bulb of the headlight is placed at the focus of the mirror,
then the concave mirror produces a powerful beam of parallel light rays,
This beam of light helps us to see things at a distance
(b) Side/rear-view mirror of a vehicle
We use Convex Mirror
A convex mirror is used as a rear-view mirror because
the image provided by a convex mirror is
- Erect - Hence, the image produced to the driver is not inverted, it’s right side is up.
- Diminished - Hence, the image produced is much smaller than the actual size of the object. This helps in providing a wider field of view .
(c) Solar furnace
We use Concave mirror
The solar furnace is kept at the focus of a large concave mirror.
The concave mirror focuses the sun’s heat rays on the furnace due to which the solar furnace gets very hot.
Note : In a solar furnace, parallel beams are coming from infinity, and object forms at focus of the convex mirror.
In headlights case, object is at the focus, so its image is formed as parallel rays going to infinity.
