Question

Write about the history of spherical mirrors in human civilization.

Answer 1

Hint: We have to recollect our knowledge of spherical mirrors to solve this question. A spherical mirror is a mirror that is being cut out of a spherical surface. It is a part of a large spherical mirror. But the question arises how people came to know about mirrors? What did people use to see their reflection before the invention of the mirror? All these questions can be answered if we try to recollect our information about the mirrors that we have studied till now.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
A lot of events took place in the process of the evolution of spherical mirrors in human civilization. Some of them are listed below:
In ancient times, people used water as a mirror to see their reflections. A pool of water or water in a vessel is used to serve the purpose.
Later, people manufactured mirrors with pieces of polished stones such as obsidian which is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. Around $6000B.C $ , obsidian mirrors were found in Anatolia which is popularly known as Turkey.
Bronze mirrors were manufactured in China around $ 2000B.C $ . These were produced in Qijia culture.
A famous mathematician, Diocles described parabolic mirrors in his work “On Burning Mirrors”. Ptolemy discussed plane, convex and concave mirrors in his Optics by conducting various experiments with curved polished iron mirrors.
Physicist IbnSahl discovered parabolic mirrors in around $ {10^{th}} $ century. Mathematician, Ibn al-Haytham studied concave and convex mirrors in both cylindrical and spherical geometries with the help of experiments he conducted with mirrors and hence found the point on a convex mirror at which a ray coming from a point is reflected another point.
In $ {11^{th}} $ century, Moorish Spain produced clear glass mirrors. In China, mirrors made up of silver-mercury amalgams were produced around $ 500A.D $ .
During the early Renaissance, the superior quality of mirrors was being made by Europeans using tin-mercury amalgam. In $ {16^{th}} $ century, Venice became a center of mirror production using this technique.
In 1835, German chemist Justus von Liebig invented the silvered glass mirror in which a thin layer of metallic silver is deposited onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. This technique is used nowadays to manufacture a large number of affordable mirrors.

Note:
In modern times, the images formed by spherical mirrors are put into a lot of use. The rearview mirror in all vehicles is made up of convex mirrors to get a diminished and erect image of the vehicles behind. To amplify signals, concave mirrors are used in satellite dishes. These mirrors are also used as security mirrors in ATMs and buildings with blind spots.