Mirrors with curved surfaces can be modeled by ray tracing and using the law of reflection at each point on the surface. (The magnification of a flat mirror is equal to one.) The law also implies that mirror images are parity inverted, which is perceived as a left-right inversion. The image size is the same as the object size. This is known as the Law of Reflection.įor flat mirrors, the law of reflection implies that images of objects are upright and the same distance behind the mirror as the objects are in front of the mirror. The incident and reflected rays lie in a single plane, and the angle between the reflected ray and the surface normal is the same as that between the incident ray and the normal. With such surfaces, the direction of the reflected ray is determined by the angle the incident ray makes with the surface normal, a line perpendicular to the surface at the point where the ray hits. This allows for production of reflected images that can be associated with an actual ( real) or extrapolated ( virtual) location in space. Glossy surfaces such as mirrors reflect light in a simple, predictable way. Main article: Reflection (physics) Diagram of specular reflection This leads to the techniques of Gaussian optics and paraxial ray tracing, which are used to find basic properties of optical systems, such as approximate image and object positions and magnifications. The mathematical behavior then becomes linear, allowing optical components and systems to be described by simple matrices. Geometrical optics is often simplified by making the paraxial approximation, or "small angle approximation". The ray is the arrow perpendicular to these parallel surfaces.Ī light ray is a line or curve that is perpendicular to the light's wavefronts (and is therefore collinear with the wave vector).Ī slightly more rigorous definition of a light ray follows from Fermat's principle, which states that the path taken between two points by a ray of light is the path that can be traversed in the least time. In this image, each maximum amplitude crest is marked with a plane to illustrate the wavefront. The techniques are particularly useful in describing geometrical aspects of imaging, including optical aberrations.įurther information: Ray (optics) and Ray tracing (physics) As light travels through space, it oscillates in amplitude. This simplification is useful in practice it is an excellent approximation when the wavelength is small compared to the size of structures with which the light interacts. Geometrical optics does not account for certain optical effects such as diffraction and interference. follow curved paths in a medium in which the refractive index changes.bend, and in particular circumstances may split in two, at the interface between two dissimilar media.propagate in straight-line paths as they travel in a homogeneous medium.The simplifying assumptions of geometrical optics include that light rays: The ray in geometrical optics is an abstraction useful for approximating the paths along which light propagates under certain circumstances. Geometrical optics, or ray optics, is a model of optics that describes light propagation in terms of rays. Model of optics describing light as geometric rays
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |