ClipArt ETC

The Mirrors and Reflections ClipArt gallery offers 57 illustrations related to how light is reflected from flat or curved polished surfaces.

"An optical toy consisting of a vertical cylindrical mirror which gives a correct image of a distorted picture drawn at the base on a plane at right angles to axis of the mirror."-Whitney, 1902

Anamorphoscope

"An optical toy consisting of a vertical cylindrical mirror which gives a correct image of a distorted…

"If the object a be placed obliquely before the convex mirror, then the converging rays from its two extremities falling obliquely on its surface, would they prolonged through the mirror, meet at the point c, behind it. But instead of being thus continued, they are thrown back by the mirror in less convergent lines, which meet the eye at e, it being, as we have seen, one of the properties of this mirror, to reflect converging rays less convergent than before." -Comstock 1850

Curved Image

"If the object a be placed obliquely before the convex mirror, then the converging rays from its two…

"Slit A is a very small opening. The light coming from the soldier on the right shines through the slit in straight lines making the image of the soldier inverted on wall W." —Quackenbos 1859

Inverted Image

"Slit A is a very small opening. The light coming from the soldier on the right shines through the slit…

This image represents an isometric holohedral mirror positioned to produce a cube by reflection.

Isometric Holohedral Mirror

This image represents an isometric holohedral mirror positioned to produce a cube by reflection.

A kaleidoscope is an optical instrument invented by Brewster about 1815. It became very popular as a toy. It consists essentially of a tube, within which are fixed longitudinally two mirrors at a certain angle ACB -- any even submultiple of 360º, in practice generally 60º -- an eyepiece at one end, and an object box containing fragments of colored glass at the other. On shaking the instrument, an infinite series of always symmetrical patterns is presented.

Kaleidoscope

A kaleidoscope is an optical instrument invented by Brewster about 1815. It became very popular as a…

This illustration shows the arrangement of mirrors in a kaleidoscope (AC and BC), and the patterns formed.

Mirrors in a Kaleidoscope

This illustration shows the arrangement of mirrors in a kaleidoscope (AC and BC), and the patterns formed.

How you see your reflection in a mirror.

Mirror

How you see your reflection in a mirror.

"The foci of concave mirrors may be in front of the mirror, in which case they are real; or they may be behind teh mirror, in which case they are virtual." -Avery 1895

Foci of Concave Mirror

"The foci of concave mirrors may be in front of the mirror, in which case they are real; or they may…

"A concave mirror reflects from a curved surface hollowing in like he inside of an orange." —Quackenbos 1859

Concave Mirror

"A concave mirror reflects from a curved surface hollowing in like he inside of an orange." —Quackenbos…

"The focus of a concave mirror is the point where the rays are brought together by reflection." -Comstock 1850

Focus of a Concave Mirror

"The focus of a concave mirror is the point where the rays are brought together by reflection." -Comstock…

"Parallel rays of light strike the concave mirror. The rays converge at the focus, F, which is halfway between the mirror surface and the center of the sphere that the mirror would form if it were a full sphere." —Quackenbos 1859

Reflection from Concave Mirrors

"Parallel rays of light strike the concave mirror. The rays converge at the focus, F, which is halfway…

"Thus, were the rays falling on the mirror parallel, the focus would be at a' but in consequence of their previous convergency, they are brought together at a less distance than the principal focus." -Comstock 1850

Convergent Rays in a Concave Mirror

"Thus, were the rays falling on the mirror parallel, the focus would be at a' but in consequence of…

"...be made obvious...where the diverging rays 1, 2, 3, 4 form a focus at the point o, whereas, had they been parallel, their focus would have been at a." -Comstock 1850

Divergent Rays in a Concave Mirror

"...be made obvious...where the diverging rays 1, 2, 3, 4 form a focus at the point o, whereas, had…

"When the rays diverge from a point beyond the center of curvature, as B, the focus falls on the same axis, at a distrance from the mirror greater than that of the principal focus, and less than that of the center of curvature." -Avery 1895

Rays Diverging from Beyond the Center of Curvature on a Concave Mirror

"When the rays diverge from a point beyond the center of curvature, as B, the focus falls on the same…

"When the rays diverge form a point at a distance from the mirror less than that of the principal focus, the reflected rays diverge as if from a point back of the mirrir. This point, b, is a virtual focus." -Avery 1895

Rays Diverging from Beyond the Center of Curvature on a Concave Mirror

"When the rays diverge form a point at a distance from the mirror less than that of the principal focus,…

"The focus of each point chose may be determined by tracing two rays from the point, and locating their real or apparent intersection after reflection by the mirror. The two rays most convenient for this purpose are teh oen that lies along the axis fo the point, and the one that lies parallel to the principal axis of the mirror." -Avery 1895

Concave Mirror with Image and Focus

"The focus of each point chose may be determined by tracing two rays from the point, and locating their…

"When the object is at a distance from the mirror somewhat greater than the center of curvature, as beyond C, the image is real, inverted, smaller than the object, and at a distance from the mirror greater than that of the principle focus and less than that of the center of curvature, as between F and C." -Avery 1895

Image Beyond the Curvature of a Concave Mirror

"When the object is at a distance from the mirror somewhat greater than the center of curvature, as…

"When the concave mirror is large, say six inches in diameter, and eight or ten inches focal distance, it exhibits the human face of enormous bulk, the spectator being frightened at the size and courseness of his own features." -Comstock 1850

Magnified Face in a Concave Mirror

"When the concave mirror is large, say six inches in diameter, and eight or ten inches focal distance,…

"...if the object is placed more remote from the mirror than the principal focus, and between the focus and the centre of the sphere of which the reflector is a part, then the image will appear inverted on the contrary side of the centre, and farter from the mirror than the object; thus, if a lamp be placed obliquely before a concave mirror, its image will be seem inverted in the air, on the contrary side of a perpendicular line through the centre of the mirror." -Comstock 1850

Object Beyond the Focus in a Concave Mirror

"...if the object is placed more remote from the mirror than the principal focus, and between the focus…

"...let us suppose the object a, to be placed before the mirror, and nearer to it than the principal focus. Then the rays proceeding from the extremities of the object without interruption, would continue to diverge in the lines o and n, as seen behind the mirror' but by reflection they are made to diverge less than before, and consequently to make the angle under which the meet more obtuse at the eye b, than it would be if they continued onward to e, where they would have met without reflection. The result therefore, is to render the image h, upon the eye, as much larger than the object a, as the angle at the eye is more obtuse than the angle at e." -Comstock 1850

Object Within the Focus in a Concave Mirror

"...let us suppose the object a, to be placed before the mirror, and nearer to it than the principal…

"Suppose a red hot ball to be placed in the principle focus of the mirror, a, the rays of heat and light proceeding from it will be reflected in the parallel lines 1, 2, 3 etc." -Comstock 1850

Reflection of Heat Using Concave Mirrors

"Suppose a red hot ball to be placed in the principle focus of the mirror, a, the rays of heat and light…

"The spherical aberration of a concave mirror is the deviation of some of the reflected light from the focus, as shown It arises from the curvature of the mirror, and causes an indistinctness or blurring of the image." -Avery 1895

Spherical Aberration of a Concave Mirror

"The spherical aberration of a concave mirror is the deviation of some of the reflected light from the…

"Suppose the tumbler, a, to be filled with water, and placed beyond the principal focus of the concave mirror, and so managed as to be hid from eye c, by the screen b. The lamp by which the tumbler is illuminated must also be placed behind the screen, and near the tumbler, To a person placed at c, the tumbler with its contents will appear incerted at e, and suspended in the air." -Comstock 1850

Deception by Mirrors

"Suppose the tumbler, a, to be filled with water, and placed beyond the principal focus of the concave…

"A convex mirror is a part of a sphere, or globe, reflecting from the outside." -Comstock 1850

Convex Mirror

"A convex mirror is a part of a sphere, or globe, reflecting from the outside." -Comstock 1850

"Hence the image of the object, when reflected from the convex mirror, appears smaller than the object itself." -Comstock 1850

Object Diminished in Convex Mirror

"Hence the image of the object, when reflected from the convex mirror, appears smaller than the object…

"To explain this, let us suppose that the arrow a, is diminished by reflection from the convex surface, so that its image appearing a d, with the eye at c, shall seem as much smaller in proportion to the object, as d is less than a. Now keeping the eye at the same distance from the mirror, withdraw the object, so that it shall be equally distant with the eye, and the image will gradually diminish, as the arrow is removed." -Comstock 1850

Convex Mirror

"To explain this, let us suppose that the arrow a, is diminished by reflection from the convex surface,…

"...as the arrow is moved backwards, the angle at c, must be diminished, because the rays flowing from the extremities of the object fall a greater distance before the reach the surface of the mirror; and as the angles of the reflected rays bear a proportion to those of the incident ones, so the angle of vision will become less in proportion, as the object is withdrawn." -Comstock 1850

Convex Mirror

"...as the arrow is moved backwards, the angle at c, must be diminished, because the rays flowing from…

"Let us suppose that a, is a luminous point, from which a pencil of diverging rays falls upon a convex mirror. These rays, as already demonstrated, will be reflected more divergent, and consequently will meet the eye at e, in a wider state of dispersion that they fell upon the mirror at o." -Comstock 1850

Convex Mirror

"Let us suppose that a, is a luminous point, from which a pencil of diverging rays falls upon a convex…

"A convex mirror is generally a part of the other surface of a spherical shell. It increases the divergence, or decreases the convergence of light that falls upon it. The foci are virtual; the principal focus is midway between the center of the mirror and the center of curvature. The foci may be located and the images determined by processes closely similar to those used for concave mirrors, as illustrated." -Avery 1895

Convex Mirror

"A convex mirror is generally a part of the other surface of a spherical shell. It increases the divergence,…

"Rays from an object showing the reproduction of an image in a convex mirror." -Avery 1895

Convex Mirror Reproducing an Image of an Arrow

"Rays from an object showing the reproduction of an image in a convex mirror." -Avery 1895

"A convex mirror reflects from a curved surface rounding out like the outside of an orange." —Quackenbos 1859

Convex Mirror

"A convex mirror reflects from a curved surface rounding out like the outside of an orange." —Quackenbos…

"Parallel rays strike the convex mirror, reflect, and diverge as if they had originated from a virtual focus inside the mirror. Focus F is located between the surface of the mirror and the mirror's center if it were a full body sphere." —Quackenbos 1859

Reflection by Convex Mirrors

"Parallel rays strike the convex mirror, reflect, and diverge as if they had originated from a virtual…

"This will be understood [here] where the ray of light A B, proceeding from the eye, falls perpendicularly on the plane mirror B D. will be reflected back in the same line; but the ray C D coming from the feet, which falls obliquely on the mirror, will be reflected back under the same angle in the line D A; and since we see objects in the direction of the reflected rays, and the image appears at the same distance behind the mirror that is object is before it, we must continue the line A D to the feet, E, and for the same reason, the rays A B, from the eye, must be prolonged to F, as far behind the mirror as the line E extends, where the whole image will be represented." -Comstock 1850

Mirror Half the Length of the Object

"This will be understood [here] where the ray of light A B, proceeding from the eye, falls perpendicularly…

"Suppose the mirror, a b, to be placed on the side of a room, and a lamp to be set in antoher room, but so situated as that its light would shine upon the glass. The lamp itself could not be seen by the eye placed at e, because the partition d is between them; but its image would be visible at e, beacuse the angle of the incident ray, coming from the light, and that of the reflected ray which reaches the eye, are equal." -Comstock 1850

Plane Mirror

"Suppose the mirror, a b, to be placed on the side of a room, and a lamp to be set in antoher room,…

"Suppose the arrow a to be the object reflected b the mirror d c; the incident rays a, flowing from the end of the arror being thrown back by reflection, will meet the eye in the same state of dicergence that they would do, if they proceded to the same distance behind the mirrr, that the eye is before it, as at o." -Comstock 1850

Plane Mirror

"Suppose the arrow a to be the object reflected b the mirror d c; the incident rays a, flowing from…

"If an object is placed before a plane mirror, a virtual image appears behind the mirror. Each point of this image seems to be as far behind the mirror as the corresponding point of the object is in front of the mirror. Hence, images seen in still, clear, water are inverted." -Avery 1895

Plane Mirror

"If an object is placed before a plane mirror, a virtual image appears behind the mirror. Each point…

"A plane mirror reflects from a flat surface, like a common looking glass." —Quackenbos 1859

Plane Mirror

"A plane mirror reflects from a flat surface, like a common looking glass." —Quackenbos 1859

"By placing two plane mirrors facing each other, we may produce an indefinite series of images of an object between them. Each image acts as a material object with respect to the other mirror, in which we see an image of the first image, etc. When the mirrors are placed so as to form with each other an angle that is an aliquot part of 360 degrees, the number of images is one less than the quotient obtained by dividing four right angles by the included angle, provuded that quotient is an even number." -Avery 1895

Multiple Images in a Plane Mirror

"By placing two plane mirrors facing each other, we may produce an indefinite series of images of an…

"The construction for the image produced by a plane mirror depends upon the fact that the image of the object may be located by locating the images of a number of well chosen points in the surface of the object." -Avery 1895

Object in Plane Mirror

"The construction for the image produced by a plane mirror depends upon the fact that the image of the…

Two concave mirrors facing each other to concentrate light.

Conjugate Mirrors

Two concave mirrors facing each other to concentrate light.

"The incident rays, a and b, being parallel before they reach the reflectors, are thrown off at unequal angles in respect to each other, for b fallson the mirror more obliquely than a, and consequently is thrown off more obliquely in a contraty direction, therefore, then angles of reflection being equal to those of incidence, the two rays meet at c." -Comstock 1850

Plane Inclined Mirrors

"The incident rays, a and b, being parallel before they reach the reflectors, are thrown off at unequal…

"The apparatus shown is used to prove that incident rays and reflected rays are equal." -Avery 1895

Reflected Light

"The apparatus shown is used to prove that incident rays and reflected rays are equal." -Avery 1895

"Let S be the position of the spectator; O and B the position of distant objects. The rays O R and B R which proceed from them, strike the surface of the water very obliquely, and the light which is reflected in the direction R S is sufficient to make a sensible impression upon the eye. But in regard to objects such as A placed near the spectator, they are not seen reflected, because the rays A R' which proceed from them strike the water with but little obliquity; and consequently, the part of their light which is reflected in the direction R' S, towards the spectator, is not sufficient to produce a sensible impression upon the eye." —Wells, 1857

Reflection

"Let S be the position of the spectator; O and B the position of distant objects. The rays O R and B…

"Here, of the rays S A, S B, and S C, only the ray S C meets the eye of the spectator D. The spot C, therefore, will appear luminous to the spectator D, but no other spot of the water A B C." —Wells, 1857

Reflection

"Here, of the rays S A, S B, and S C, only the ray S C meets the eye of the spectator D. The spot C,…

"Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection." —Croft 1917

Reflection of Light

"Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection." —Croft 1917

"Reflection of light from a broken surface." —Croft 1917

Reflection of Light from a Broken Surface

"Reflection of light from a broken surface." —Croft 1917

"Consider a beam of light as made up of a number of ehter waves moving forward in air and side by side, as represented by the rays A, B, C. Imagine a plane, MN, normal to these yars, attached to the waves and moving forward in a straight line. As the wave front advances beyond MN, the ray, A, strikes the reflecting surface, RS, and is turned back into the air in accordance with the law just given." -Avery 1895

Explanation of Reflection

"Consider a beam of light as made up of a number of ehter waves moving forward in air and side by side,…

"Mirror A/B is only half of person C's height. C is able to view his entire body through such a small mirror due to the angle of incidence from D to B to F." —Quackenbos 1859

Angle of Incidence and Reflection

"Mirror A/B is only half of person C's height. C is able to view his entire body through such a small…

"Irregular reflection or diffusion results from the incidence of radiant energy upon an irregular surface, as is illustrated. Bodies are made visible to the eye mainly by the light that they thus diffuse." -Avery 1895

Irregular Reflection or Diffusion

"Irregular reflection or diffusion results from the incidence of radiant energy upon an irregular surface,…

"Thus, if a sunbeam, passing through a small aperure in the window shutter a, be permitted to fall upon the plane mirror, or looking glass, c, d, at right-angles, it will be reflected back at right-angles with the mirror, and therefore will pass back again in exactl the same direction in which it approached." -Comstock 1850

Reflection of Light

"Thus, if a sunbeam, passing through a small aperure in the window shutter a, be permitted to fall upon…

"Let a ray pass towards a mirror in the line a, c, it will be reflected off in the direction of c, d, making the angles 1 and 2 exactly equal." -Comstock 1850

Reflecion of Light

"Let a ray pass towards a mirror in the line a, c, it will be reflected off in the direction of c, d,…

"The ray a, c, is the ray of incidence, and that from c, to d, is the ray or reflection. The angles which a, c, make with the perpendicular line, and with the plane of the mirror, is exactly equal to those made by c, d, with the same perpendicular, and the same plane surface." -Comstock 1850

Reflection of Light

"The ray a, c, is the ray of incidence, and that from c, to d, is the ray or reflection. The angles…

"Regular reflection results from the incidence of radiant energy upon a polished surface. When a beam of light falls upon a mirror, the greater part of it is reflected in a definite direction as is illustrated, and forms an image of the object from which it came. A perfect mirror would be invisible." -Avery 1895

Regular Reflection

"Regular reflection results from the incidence of radiant energy upon a polished surface. When a beam…

"Reflection of light from a smooth surface." —Croft 1917

Reflection of Light from a Smooth Surface

"Reflection of light from a smooth surface." —Croft 1917

"Reflection of light form a smooth surface." —Croft 1917

Reflection of Light from a Smooth Surface

"Reflection of light form a smooth surface." —Croft 1917

A polished surface of metal, or any other suitable material, applied for the purpose of reflecting rays of light, heat, or sound in any required direction.

Parabolic, Reflector

A polished surface of metal, or any other suitable material, applied for the purpose of reflecting rays…

"...represents two parabolic reflectors, mn and op. It is a peculiarity of such reflectors that rays starting from the focus, as F will be reflected as parallel rays, and that parallel rays falling upon sucha reflector will converge at the focus, as F'. Hence, two such reflectors may be placed in such a sposition that sound waves starting from one focus shall, after two reflections, be converged at the other focus...Two reflectors so placed are said to be conjugate to each other." -Avery 1895

Parabolic Reflectors

"...represents two parabolic reflectors, mn and op. It is a peculiarity of such reflectors that rays…