The position of the image is determined by the intersection of at least two reflected rays. By choosing specific rays, it becomes possible to construct a clear ray diagram, and the point where these rays intersect gives the location of the image of the point object.
How is the position of the image of a point object determined using the rays reflected from a spherical mirror?
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The position of the image of a point object in a spherical mirror is determined by using two or more reflected rays. Three common rays are the parallel ray, which after reflection passes through the focal point (for concave mirrors) or appears to diverge from the focal point (for convex mirrors), the central ray, which reflects symmetrically along its incident path, and the focal ray, which reflects parallel to the principal axis (for concave mirrors) or appears to converge at the focal point (for convex mirrors). The intersection of these rays or their extensions locates the image point.