Mirrors
Flat Mirror
The basic principle that describes the behavior of a plane mirror is the Law of Reflection, which states that the angle of incidence (the angle between the incident ray and the normal to the mirror's surface) is equal to the angle of reflection (the angle between the reflected ray and the same normal). This law is expressed as:
$$\theta_{i} = \theta_{r}$$
Instructions
Adjust the green slider to modify the light beam angle \( \theta_{i} \).
Parabolic mirror
A parabolic mirror is a special type of mirror with a curved surface shaped like a parabola. This kind of mirror has fundamental applications in optics and other areas of physics due to its ability to focus light rays or other types of waves to a single point, known as the focus.
One of the most important properties of a parabolic mirror is that all rays parallel to its axis of symmetry are reflected and converge at a single point: the focus. This phenomenon is a consequence of the parabolic geometry, which ensures that the angles of incidence and reflection adjust in such a way that parallel rays always converge at the focus.
Instructions
Move the slider to adjust the distance between the vertex and the focus of the parabola. You can also move the light blue point up or down to modify the path of the ray parallel to the parabola's axis.