Understanding Real, Inverted, and Located Image Formation in Concave Mirrors

You have a concave mirror, the object is outside the center of curvature. Where is the image?

When an object is placed outside the center of curvature of a concave mirror, the image formed is real, inverted, and located between the center of curvature (C) and the focus (F) of the mirror

When an object is placed outside the center of curvature of a concave mirror, the image formed is real, inverted, and located between the center of curvature (C) and the focus (F) of the mirror.

To understand why the image is formed in this position, we need to consider the behavior of light rays as they interact with the concave mirror.

1. Incident rays: When parallel rays of light from the object strike the concave mirror, they are reflected and converge towards a point known as the focus (F). This is due to the reflective nature of the mirror’s surface and its specific shape, which is curved inward.

2. Reflected rays: After reflecting off the mirror, these rays continue to converge towards the focus.

3. Formation of image: The intersection point of the converged rays indicates the position of the real image. Since the rays converge, they actually cross each other, resulting in an inverted image.

The exact position of the image can be determined using simple ray diagrams or equations. For instance, in the case of a concave mirror with a focal length (f), an object placed at a distance beyond the center of curvature (C) (i.e., further away), will form an image between C and F.

So, the image formed by the concave mirror will be located between the center of curvature and focus, and it will be real and inverted. The specific location of the image will depend on the object distance and the focal length of the mirror.

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