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PUMPA - SMART LEARNING
எங்கள் ஆசிரியர்களுடன் 1-ஆன்-1 ஆலோசனை நேரத்தைப் பெறுங்கள். டாப்பர் ஆவதற்கு நாங்கள் பயிற்சி அளிப்போம்
Book Free DemoA curved mirror whose cross-section is shaped like the tip of a parabola is known as a parabolic mirror. It has a concave reflecting surface (curved inward), which directs all the incident beams of light to converge at its focal point.
![Parabolic_Reflector_in_Nottingham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1042997.jpg](https://resources.cdn.yaclass.in/f7beb927-3956-4e2e-a109-7eadd00f10e1/ParabolicReflectorinNottinghamgeographorguk1042997w300.jpg)
In this mirror, light rays produced by the source focused at the focal point will fall on the mirror's surface, and they will diverge in a direction, which is parallel to the principal axis of the parabolic mirror.
![shutterstock_1809987535.jpg](https://resources.cdn.yaclass.in/60a7080a-6eb3-41c1-ad0e-d76520b1923a/shutterstock1809987535w300.jpg)
Hence, it reflects the light rays to travel a long distance without getting diminished.
Parabolic mirrors are also known as parabolic reflectors, used to collect or project light energy, heat energy, sound energy and radio waves.
Applications:
They are used in,
- Reflecting telescopes
- Radio telescopes
- Parabolic microphones
- Solar cookers and
- Solar water heaters, etc.,
![shutterstock_1519636661.jpg](https://resources.cdn.yaclass.in/822360dc-6a10-462d-a7a8-bf483cf946aa/shutterstock1519636661w300.jpg)
History:
The principle of parabolic reflectors has been known since Greco-Roman times.
- Mathematician Diocles described and proved that parabolic reflectors focus a parallel beam to a point in his book "On Burning Mirrors".
- Parabolic mirrors were also examined by the physicist Ibn Sahl in the \(10\)th century. In his book Optica Promota (\(1663\)), James Gregory expressed that a reflecting telescope with a parabolic mirror would correct spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration seen in refracting telescopes.
- In 1888, the first parabolic mirrors were constructed by Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, in the form of a reflector antenna.
Reference:
1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parabolic_Reflector_in_Nottingham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1042997.jpg