Question
What sign conventions are used for reflection from a spherical mirror?

Answer

According to the Cartesian sign convention, the pole of the mirror is taken as the origin. The principal axis is taken as the X-axis of the frame of reference. The sign conventions are as follows.

  • The object is always kept on the left of the mirror. All distances parallel to the principal axis are measured from the pole of the mirror.
  • All distances measured towards the right of the pole are taken to be positive, while those measured towards the left are taken to be negative.
  • Distance measured vertically upwards from the principal axis are taken to be positive.
  • Distance measured vertically downwards from the principal axis are taken to be negative.
  • The focal length of a concave mirror is negative while that of a convex mirror is positive.

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