Question

State four uses of a plane mirror.

Answer 1

Hint: Plane mirror has a flat reflecting surface. If a parallel beam of light is incident on the plane mirror then reflected light is also parallel. The major use of a plane mirror is to see reflected objects. The distance of the image formed is equal to the distance of the object from the mirror.

Complete step by step answer:
Uses of plane mirror:
1. Plane mirrors are used as a looking glass. It is the most common use of plane mirrors. We use plane mirrors to see ourselves. The whole day we use it for many purposes like brushing, shaving, doing makeup etc. Plane mirrors are widely used in beauty parlours and salon shops. It would be very difficult to manage such things without these mirrors.
2. Plane mirrors are used in periscopes. These mirrors used in periscope reflect the light and from the image so that all the ships on the surface of sea or any neighbourhood submarine can be seen from inside of the submarine.
3. Plane mirrors are used in solar cookers. As plane mirrors reflect all the light falling on it, it is used as a reflector inside the solar cooker to reflect sunlight onto the cooking area. The mirrors used are well polished so that they reflect almost all sunlight falling on it.
4. Plane mirrors are also used for Security and Safety purposes. Plane mirrors are used for looking for explosives underneath a vehicle. At blind turns of busy roads plane mirrors are used to see the vehicles coming from the other side.
5. Sometimes these mirrors are used in shops like salons to give a better view of hair from front and back to the customers.

Note: Plane mirrors form virtual and erect images. The image is also laterally inverted i.e. the left side of the object appears on the right side of the image and the right side of the object appears on the left side of the image. The image is formed behind the mirror at a distance equal to distance between object and front side of the mirror.