Jadyen Calpito

G10-sodalite

Enumerate 10 uses of concave mirrors and 10 uses of convex mirrors

10 Uses Of Concave Mirror

We will now explain the major 10 uses of concave mirror below:
1. One of the important applications of a concave mirror is in satellite dishes. These antennas are
designed to first receive and then amplify (increase) the weaker signals that are sent in space via
communication satellites. As the distance is very large, the waves reaching the earth from the
antennas are in parallel. Thus when these parallel waves strike a concave surfaced mirrored
antenna dish, they all get reflected by the focus of the concave mirror. At that focus the receiver
for the signals is placed. Here, the purpose of mirror is to gather weaker signals falling over a
bigger area and them concentrate or focus them on one point or spot.
2. Another major application of concave mirrors is in headlights of the car. A powerful source of
light in a smaller size is placed at the focus point of the concave mirror which is placed at the
back of the headlight. Then any light from the focus that will strike the mirror will get reflected in
parallel to the axis of the concave mirror. Thus the beam of headlight gets focused in this way.
3. One more application of concave mirrors is in telescopes used for astronomical studies. All
telescopes may them be large or small, use concave mirror in accordance to the size of the
telescope. If telescope is large a bigger mirror is used, for smaller ones small mirror is used. The
mirror is placed at the bottom of the telescope such that it can gather light and form a smaller
image than the original size of the image on a small and plane mirror placed at the top. This
plane mirror is simply placed to reflect the light into the eyepiece or camera or other output
source of the telescope. Astronomers use larger mirrored telescope because it gathers more light
and fainter objects can then easily be viewed.
4. Shaving mirrors are another example that makes use of concave mirrors because of their
curved and reflective surface.
5. Dentist and ENT doctors also use concave mirrors in their examinations procedure to obtain a
larger image than the original of teeth, ear or skin etc.
6. Concave mirrors are also used in torches on the same principle as they are used in vehicles
headlights.
7. They are also used in solar powered gadgets. The parallel rays of the sun are focused at the
focal point of the mirror and then the reflected rays are used for heating purposes like cooking,
heating water, recharging power backups etc.
8. They are used in electron microscopes and magnifying glasses to get a larger view of smaller
objects under study.
9. Another use of concave mirror is in visual bomb detectors.

10. The flash light mirror of camera also makes use of concave mirrors.

10 Uses of Convex Mirror

1. Convex mirrors are used inside buildings:
Large hospitals, offices or stores sometimes make use of convex mirrors in order to let
people see what is around a corner to avoid people running into each other and prevent
minor/major collisions.
2. They are used in sunglasses:
Convex mirrors are also used in making lenses of sunglasses. This is done to help reflect
the light of sun away from the eyes of the person wearing the sunglasses.
3. Convex mirrors are used in vehicles:
They are used as a rear view mirror in vehicles because the mirror can diverge a beam of
light and makes a virtual image. And as the focal length and radius of curvature of the
convex mirror are virtual the image is always produced up the right way and that too
smaller in size than the actual size of the object. So the mirror is able to give a wide view
of the field.
4. Use in magnifying glass:
Two convex mirrors are placed back to back in order to make a magnifying class.
5. Use of convex mirror in securities:
convex mirrors are placed near ATMs so as to allow the bank customers to check if
someone is behind them. This is a measure of security taken which helps in keeping
customers using ATMs safe from robberies of cash withdrawals or other valuables or
even their cards along with the pin number. This also keeps the identity of ATM users
secure.
6. Convex mirrors use also used as street light reflectors because they are able to spread
light over a bigger area.
7. They are also used for inspection purposes for places where it is difficult to reach. For
this, the mirrors are mounted on an appropriately sized rod and are extended with lights
under the object that is to be viewed, common examples for this are appliances or car
repair, clocks etc.
8. They are also put on corners of roads so that you can see any cars coming to avoid
collisions.

9. They are also used in telescopes.

10. Another use of convex mirrors is as ceiling dome mirrors.