---
title: "A beam of light consisting of plane wavefronts travels to the right, parallel to the principal axis of a concave spherical mirror with focal length \\(f\\). The wavefronts strike the mirror and reflect. Which of the following claims correctly describes the shape of the reflected wavefronts as they travel away from the mirror, along with the correct justification?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/117403/"
date_modified: "2026-08-04T06:52:04+00:00"
---

# A beam of light consisting of plane wavefronts travels to the right, parallel to the principal axis of a concave spherical mirror with focal length \(f\). The wavefronts strike the mirror and reflect. Which of the following claims correctly describes the shape of the reflected wavefronts as they travel away from the mirror, along with the correct justification?

A beam of light consisting of plane wavefronts travels to the right, parallel to the principal axis of a concave spherical mirror with focal length \(f\). The wavefronts strike the mirror and reflect. Which of the following claims correctly describes the shape of the reflected wavefronts as they travel away from the mirror, along with the correct justification?

![A horizontal dashed line represents the principal axis of a concave mirror. A concave spherical mirror curve is positioned on the right side, oriented vertically and curving inward toward the left. On the principal axis, a point labeled F representing the focal point is marked at distance f to the left of the mirror vertex, and a point labeled C representing the center of curvature is marked at distance 2f to the left of the mirror vertex. Three evenly spaced vertical solid line segments perpendicular to the principal axis represent incident plane wavefronts approaching from the left. Each wavefront has horizontal arrows pointing to the right indicating propagation toward the mirror. No reflected wavefronts, reflected rays, or additional labels appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1785826323-icnzcN.jpg)

- **A.** The reflected wavefronts are planar because the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence at every point on the mirror surface.
- **B.** The reflected wavefronts are spherical and diverge from the focal point \(F\) because a curved mirror always causes incoming parallel light to spread outward.
- **C.** The reflected wavefronts are spherical and converge toward the focal point \(F\) because light rays perpendicular to the incident wavefronts reflect through the focal point.
- **D.** The reflected wavefronts are spherical and converge toward the center of curvature \(C\) because the center of curvature is the geometric center of the mirror's spherical surface.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/117403/*