Education Technology

Concave Mirrors

Subject Area
Science: Physics: Light and Optics
Level
9-12
Activity Time
45 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire™ CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Other Materials
  • pen or pencil
  • blank sheet of paper

Concave Mirrors

Activity Overview

In this lesson, students will explore the reflection of a movable object in a concave mirror.

Objectives

  • Students will observe the affect of moving an object toward and away from a concave mirror.
  • Students will graph the relationship between the object distance and the image distance from a mirror's focal point.
  • Student will create an equation relating object distance to image distance.

Vocabulary

  • concave
  • focal point
  • image
  • mirror
  • virtual image

About the Lesson

Students focus on the relationship between the object and its image as the location and height of the object change. The focal point is movable to allow for further investigations. Students will vary the focal point of the concave mirror and observe how the image changes.

Subject Area
Science: Physics: Light and Optics
Level
9-12
Activity Time
45 Minutes
TI Calculator
TI-Nspire™ CX series
TI-Nspire™ CX CAS/CX II CAS
TI-Nspire Version
3.0
Other Materials
  • pen or pencil
  • blank sheet of paper
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