Question

What type of image/images are formed by:
A. A convex mirror?
B. A concave mirror?

Answer 1

An image is formed when two light rays meet. A real image is formed when the two light rays actually meet while a virtual image is formed when the light rays meet on backward extrapolation. Concave mirrors are those spherical mirrors whose outer surface is painted or silvered while in convex mirrors, the inner surface is painted. Concave mirror is also known as the converging mirror while convex mirror is known as the diverging mirror.

Complete step by step solution:
The rules of image formation are as follows:
A ray of light parallel to the principal axis after reflection passes through the focus of the mirror.
A ray of light passing the center of curvature of the mirror gets reflected back along the same path.

Concave mirror

Convex Mirror

The characteristics of image formed by a concave mirror are given below:

Object position	Characteristics
At infinity	Highly diminished, real and inverted
Beyond C	Diminished, real and inverted
At C	Same size as of the object, real and inverted
Between F and C	Magnified, real and inverted
At F	Highly enlarged, real and inverted
Between F and P	Highly enlarged, virtual and erect

The characteristics of image formed by a convex mirror are given below:

Object position	Characteristics
At infinity	Diminished, virtual and erect
Between F and P	Diminished, virtual and erect

Note: In case of convex mirrors the image formed is always virtual and erect but they are formed at different positions. When the object is placed at infinity the image is formed at the focus. If the object is placed between the pole and focus of the mirror, the image is formed between the pole and focus of the mirror behind the mirror itself.