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Reflection and Refraction

by Anonymous

Move an object toward and away from a mirror, water surface, and convex lens to trace the rays and see where each image forms and how big it looks.

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About this app

Reflection and Refraction is an interactive middle school physics app about how mirrors, water, and convex lenses form images. Explore plane-mirror images, apparent depth in water and glass, and the different image types produced by changing an object's distance from a convex lens. Each section uses selectable values, illustrated ray diagrams, step-by-step challenges, and immediate feedback.

Use cases

  • Middle school students studying light and optics
  • Teachers demonstrating reflection and refraction concepts
  • Learners practicing image formation with guided challenges
  • Parents exploring introductory physics with children

Features

  • Interactive mirror simulation with four object distances and four heights
  • Shows equal mirror-image distance and height, object-image separation, and left-right reversal
  • Compares apparent depth in water and glass using selectable real depths
  • Convex-lens simulation showing upright, inverted, magnified, reduced, equal, or absent images
  • Guided missions with reset, next, progress, and instant feedback controls