Reflection and Mirrors—Inquiry Lab Kit for AP® Physics 2

Product Details

AP Physics 2, Big Idea 6, Investigation 11

Students use mirrors to see their reflection every day, but do they know why the image forms? The mirrors on the sides of a car read, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” What makes the image of an approaching car seem farther away than the actual car? Both of these questions can be answered with the law of reflection.

The purpose of this advanced-inquiry lab is to design a procedure to identify the properties of curved mirrors, both concave and convex. The lab begins with an introductory activity to investigate the law of reflection using a single plane mirror. Students draw the rays of incidence and reflection and measure the angles between them to find the location of the reflected object. A series of guided-inquiry questions lead students to predict the focal length of a curved mirror and the location and type of image. Students perform experiments to confirm their predictions.

Enough materials are provided for a single demonstration setup of the Introductory Activity and a single demonstration setup of the Guided-Inquiry experiments. Additional sets of meter stick optics equipment and mirrors are available separately.