Image size in concave mirror

In summary, the object is 31.0 cm away from the mirror and the image is 155.0 cm away from the mirror. The absolute size of the image is 31.0 cm.
  • #1
roam
1,271
12

Homework Statement


An object 23.0 mm high is 31.0 cm away from a concave spherical mirror with a radius of curvature of 54.0 cm. What is the absolute size of the image?

Homework Equations



Maybe these are relevant

Mirror equation in terms of focal length:
[tex]\frac{1}{p}+\frac{1}{q}=\frac{1}{f}[/tex]

Magnification of image:
[tex]M=\frac{h'}{h}=-\frac{q}{p}[/tex]

The Attempt at a Solution



I have already calculated the distance of the image from the mirror to be 209 cm. But how do I calculate the size of the image? Is there a special formula or do I need to use some kind of trigonometry? I had no luck using the trying the above equations...

The correct answer must be 155.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
Explain the notations you used: What is p and q and f? And what is a concave mirror? What about the signs of p,q and f? How is f related to the curvature of the mirror?
You know both the image distance and the object distance. How are they related to the ratio of the image height to the object hight?

ehild
 
Last edited:
  • #3
ehild said:
Explain the notations you used: What is p and q and f? And what is a concave mirror? What about the signs of p,q and f? How is f related to the curvature of the mirror?
You know both the image distance and the object distance. How are they related to the ratio of the image height to the object hight?

ehild

Thank you! I got the right answer using the ratio [tex]\frac{h'}{h}=-\frac{q}{p}[/tex], but I had to exclude the minus '-' sign. Is that because the resulting image is upright (not inverted)?
 
  • #4
The real image is inverted (h' is negative), the virtual image is upright (h' is positive). The image distance is positive when the image is real, and negative when the image is imaginary. You got q=209, a positive number, so h'/h was negative, h' negative, the image was real. To get the absolute size, you have to take the absolute value of h'.

ehild
 
  • #5
4 mm.



To calculate the absolute size of the image, you can use the magnification equation M=-q/p, where q is the image distance and p is the object distance. In this case, q is 209 cm and p is 31.0 cm. Plugging these values into the equation, we get M = -209/31 = -6.7419. This means that the image is about 6.7419 times larger than the object. To find the absolute size of the image, we can multiply the magnification by the object size. So, the absolute size of the image is 6.7419 * 23.0 mm = 155.4 mm. This is the same as the correct answer provided. Therefore, the absolute size of the image in this scenario is 155.4 mm.
 

1. What is the equation for image size in a concave mirror?

The equation for image size in a concave mirror is given by:
m = -v/u

2. How does the object distance affect the image size in a concave mirror?

The object distance, u, and image distance, v, are inversely proportional in a concave mirror. This means that as the object distance increases, the image size decreases, and vice versa.

3. What is the difference between a real and virtual image in a concave mirror?

A real image is formed when the reflected rays actually converge at a point, and can be projected onto a screen. A virtual image is formed when the reflected rays appear to originate from a point behind the mirror, and cannot be projected onto a screen.

4. How does the focal length of a concave mirror affect the image size?

The focal length, f, of a concave mirror determines the magnification of the image. A shorter focal length will result in a larger image, while a longer focal length will result in a smaller image.

5. Can the image size in a concave mirror be larger than the object size?

Yes, the image size can be larger than the object size in a concave mirror. This is known as magnification and is determined by the distance of the object from the mirror and the focal length of the mirror.

Similar threads

  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
3
Views
1K
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
1
Views
4K
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
19
Views
7K
Back
Top