1. Radius of Curvature Lab Report Daniela Marinelli Emily Shorrock Emmett Keyserlingk William MacDaddy

2. Purpose To determine the principal characteristics of a convex mirror & to find the mathematical relationship between the radius of curvature and the focal length of the mirror.

3. Materials Paper Pencil Ruler Ray Box (5 slit) Convex mirror

4. Procedure – Finding Focal Point Shine 5 parallel light rays at the convex mirror. Using a ruler, trace the incident and reflected rays. Back-trace the reflected rays – the point where they meet is the mirror’s focal point. f

6. Procedure – Finding Centre of Curvature Draw the full circle of the mirror. Measure along the principal axis to find the exact centre of the circle – this is the mirror’s centre of curvature. Measure the distance from the centre of curvature to the mirror – this is your radius of curvature.

8. ? Compare your results. What do you notice about the focal length and the radius of curvature?

10. Procedure – Characteristics of a convex mirror Using ray diagrams, experiment with different object distances and observe what images they form. Are they upright, inverted, virtual or real?

11. Analysis Images produced by convex mirrors have multiple characteristics. In a convex mirror, the image will be virtual, upright, reduced in size (i.e., smaller than the object), and will be located behind the mirror.

12. Analysis A convex mirror is also known as a diverging mirror. This is due to the way incident light rays coming from the same point diverge. Convex mirrors are sometimes used as surveillance devices in convenience stores and other places which are weary of criminals

13. Conclusion In an example conducted in the results section, it is clearly shown that when the radius of curvature is 5cm, the focal length is 2.5cm. This supports the formula that f=1/2r. In a convex mirror, the image will be virtual, upright, reduced in size (i.e., smaller than the object), and will be located behind the mirror. The variation in object distance affects the image distance and size.

14. FIN