MATRIX FORMULATION OF PLANE MIRROR REFLECTION
Abstract
The law of reflection by a plane mirror is formulated in terms of a matrix, representing the plane mirror, which operates on position and direction vectors in the object space of the mirror, transforming them to the corresponding vectors in the image space of the mirror. In this formulation, the reflection properties of a system of plane mirrors are readily analyzed by a systematic application of matrix algebra to the reflection matrices corresponding to the individual mirrors. For purpose of illustration, the method is applied to derive some simple reflection properties of the penta reflector, and to calculate the magnitude of alignment error resulting from misalignment of the penta reflector, when used in a representative alignment application. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0266665
Entities
People
- Dale Vrabec
Organizations
- TRW Inc.