At lunch, Ivor catches his reflection in a polished spoon. In the bowl of the spoon his face is upside down. On the back of the same spoon it is right side up.
The two sides of the spoon are two different kinds of mirror. This lesson names them and drills the sort that tells them apart.
A mirror whose reflecting surface is not flat is a curved mirror.
To sort a curved mirror, look at which way its reflecting surface goes.
The inside of the spoon's bowl caves inward. A reflecting surface that curves inward is called a concave mirror.
The back of the same spoon bulges outward. A reflecting surface that bulges outward is called a convex mirror.
The word concave has cave inside it: a concave mirror caves in.
Every curved mirror lesson in this topic starts with this one read.
Jorun looks at her reflection in the polished inside of a ladle. Is that mirror concave or convex?
The reflecting surface is the inside of the ladle's bowl.
The inside of a bowl caves inward.
A reflecting surface that curves inward is concave.
The inside of the ladle is a concave mirror.
A garden gazing ball sits on a stand, and Katla sees her reflection in it. Is the ball's surface concave or convex?
The ball's reflecting surface bulges outward toward Katla.
A reflecting surface that bulges outward is convex.
The gazing ball is a convex mirror.
Katla's dentist holds a small mirror with a hollowed reflecting surface against her tooth. Is the mirror concave or convex?
A car's passenger side mirror bulges outward toward the traffic behind it. Is the mirror concave or convex?
Lennart polishes the back of a steel ladle and looks at his reflection in it. Is that mirror concave or convex?
The polished inside of a steel mixing bowl acts as a mirror. Is the mirror concave or convex?
A space heater has a polished dish behind its glowing element, hollowed toward the room. Is the dish concave or convex?
Jorun's polished bike bell has a dome that bulges outward. Is the bell's surface concave or convex?
A reflecting telescope collects starlight with a large mirror whose polished surface caves inward at the middle. What kind of mirror is it?
Jorun looks into the hollow back of a polished hubcap, then flips it and looks at its bulging front. Which option names the two mirror kinds she uses, in that order?
Katla's mirror is concave. Which description fits its reflecting surface?