Simulated Analysis of Image Formation for Concave Mirror with Scilab by Using The Concept of Calculus

Abstract

The utilization of computer as a medium of learning has been proven can attract interest and motivation of student to study physics. One way to use it as medium is by creating a simulation which is related to the topic being taught. The simulation is made by using the physics concepts about optical geometry in concave mirror, computation of science, and the concept of calculus. The application which are used in this simulation is Scilab 6.0.0 and simplescreenrecorder 0.3.8. In this experiment, we create two types of simulation of image formation drawing which is normaly found in Physics text book. In the first type, the tip of the special rays is described precisely about the curvature of the concave mirror, while the second type, the end of the rays are drawn up to the line s=0. The aims of this experiment is to produce a learning media which can be used by student to predict image formation of concave mirror, and also to compare which type gives the same result as the result obtained analytically. Result of the simulation shows that the first type has a difference when compared with analytic result. By using mirror radius 20cm, object distance 25cm, and the height of object 5cm, we get error calculation of image distance about 3,533% and the height of the object about 2,650%. The errors in the first type quite vary according to the value of s and h which are used. However, the second type gives the same result as the analytic calculation. So, the second type is better to illustrate the image formation of the concave mirror. But, both of these types of simulation give the same image characteristics and the prediction of image location. This simulation also proves that it is easier for student to describe the formation of an image on the concave mirror when the mirror is considered as a stright line. By using this medium of learning, student can input their own data such as object distance, mirror radius, and object height, so it can be process by Scilab to produce image formation step by step.