PRINCIPAL AXIS
The line joining the pole and the centre of curvature of a mirror is called the principal axis. This line is a key reference point for determining the focal length and characteristics of the mirror.
If the mirror is convex (bulges out, like a ball), objects in the mirror will appear smaller or further away, but the mirror will show a larger scene (called a wider field of view), including objects that a flat mirror would miss around the edges. If the mirror is concave (like the inside of a dish), it can magnify images or focus light onto a small spot. A large concave mirror can focus sunlight and produce a very hot spot.
A mirror that bows inward is called concave. The opposite, a mirror that bows outward would be called convex. Convex mirrors are used to to increase the field of view around corners and blind spots. Concave mirror serve no purpose other than novelty (making you appear thin or odd)
A mirror has an infinite number of poles due to its smooth and continuous reflective surface. The pole of a mirror is the point where the normal to the mirror surface intersects it, and this point can be anywhere on the mirror surface.
It is called a Cassegrain. The small convex subreflector is a hyperboloid with one focus at the focus of the main mirror, and the other focus just behind the main mirror where the eyepiece is.
According to all the laws of optics, no, but there's more to it. If the mirror is ofrelatively low quality, especially if the reflecting coating is on the back and thelight has to pass through the glass twice when it bounces, then the focal lengthmay be slightly different for different wavelengths. The result is that you seethin borders of color around objects when you look at them in the mirror. Thisis considered a cheapo mirror with a severe fault. It might be OK to shave with,but it would never be used in an optical system like a telescope.
The geometric centre of a spherical mirror is called its pole. The centre of the hollow sphere for which the mirror is a part, is called the centre of curvature. The line joining the centre of curvature and the pole is the principal axis. A light ray incident on a spherical mirror, after reflection appears to pass through the principal focus in the case of a convex mirror and passes through the focus in the case of concave mirror. The diameter of the spherical mirror gives the measure of its aperture
The focal point of a convex mirror lies on the same side as the centre of curvature and is at a distance of half the radius of curvature from the optical centre.
The image will form behind the mirror, between the focus and the center of curvature, and it will be a virtual, upright, and magnified image.
The center of curvature of a mirror is the point located at a distance equal to the radius of curvature from the mirror's vertex. It is the center of the sphere of which the mirror forms a part. Light rays that are reflected from the mirror and pass through this point are either parallel to the principal axis (for concave mirrors) or appear to diverge from this point (for convex mirrors).
A ray directed towards the centre of curvature of a convex mirror will reflect back on itself along the same path. This is because the centre of curvature is located on the normal line, so the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection will be equal due to the principle of reflection.
The center of curvature of a spherical mirror is the point at the center of the sphere from which the mirror is a part. It is located at a distance equal to the radius of the sphere. The center of curvature is an important point for determining the focal length and the magnification of the mirror.
A plane mirror is not curved so it does not have a center of curvature. Or if you want to be mathematically correct, you could say that it's center of curvature is at an infinite distance from the mirror.
The most curved mirrors are spherical mirrors. The centre of curved surface is called center of curvature. There are two kinds of spherical mirrors. Concave and convex mirror.
The radius of the sphere of which a lens surface or curved mirror forms a part is called the radius of curvature.
Convex means rounded or curved like the exterior of a circle or sphere. Also called as fish eye or diverging mirror. The mirror coating of the concave mirror is on the outside of the spherical surface. In concave mirrors, the center of curvature and the reflecting surface fall on the same side of the mirror.
The principal axis of a mirror is an imaginary line that passes through the center of curvature and the vertex of the mirror. Light rays parallel to the principal axis either converge or diverge after reflecting off the mirror.
The center of curvature of a plane mirror is located at an infinite distance behind the mirror. This is because a plane mirror is flat and does not have a curved surface like a concave or convex mirror.