What is the difference between mirror and lens? For example, do lens diffract light while mirrors don't?
What is the difference between mirror and lens?
- Thread starter m25
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Light will pass through a lens. Mirrors always will reflect.
Refraction and Diffraction are not relevant for problems comparing a lens or mirror. They would only be present in snells law or slit experiments. You just need to know if you look in a mirror or a lens how the image will appear (upright/inverted) and be able to predict size and distance of the image or object. Also be familiar with nearsighted vs farsighted and how the eye is shaped in each.
Refraction and Diffraction are not relevant for problems comparing a lens or mirror. They would only be present in snells law or slit experiments. You just need to know if you look in a mirror or a lens how the image will appear (upright/inverted) and be able to predict size and distance of the image or object. Also be familiar with nearsighted vs farsighted and how the eye is shaped in each.
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The main difference is that mirrors reflect light while lenses refract it. On the MCAT, though, we see a lot of other practical differences - for example, convex lenses act like concave mirrors, and vice versa. Also, for a lens, a real image will be on the opposite side from the object, while for mirrors, a real image is on the same side.
