Number of reflections undergone by light ray between 2 plane mirrors

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the calculation of the number of reflections a light ray undergoes between two plane mirrors positioned 10 cm apart. A light ray strikes one end of the second mirror at a 30-degree angle, leading to a calculated distance of 5.77 cm per reflection. The participant determined that the number of reflections is approximately 34, contrasting with the book's answer of 170. Other contributors agree with this calculation, suggesting the textbook contains numerous errors. The original poster expresses frustration with the inaccuracies but continues to use the book for its extensive content.
Amith2006
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Sir,
Two plane mirrors M1 and M2 have a length of 2 meters each and are 10 cm apart. A ray of light is incident on one end of mirror M2 at an angle of 30 degrees. What is the number of reflections light undergoes before reaching the other end?
I solved it in the following way:
In each reflection the distance moved = 10 x tan(30)
= 5.77 cm
Therefore the number of reflections before it reaches
the other end = 200/5.77
= 34
But the answer given in my book is 170. Please help.
 

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Your answer and method make sense to me; the book's answer does not.
 
Doc Al said:
Your answer and method make sense to me; the book's answer does not.

I would also agree with you here. I obtained answer identical to yours Amith (34.64...) which rounds to 34 reflections. It seems your 'textbook' is making a significant number of errors. If you don't mind me asking what text are you reading from?
 
Sir,
I kindly request you all to tolerate the erroneous questions of my book. There are about 150 questions in each unit out of which say about 7 to 8 questions have wrong answers. That is why I am still using it. I hope to get it corrected with your help.Thanks for your guidance.
 
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