Number of reflections undergone by light ray between 2 plane mirrors

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a problem involving two plane mirrors and the number of reflections a ray of light undergoes as it travels between them. The original poster presents a scenario where the mirrors are 10 cm apart, and a light ray strikes one mirror at a specific angle.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster calculates the distance traveled per reflection and attempts to determine the total number of reflections. Other participants express agreement with the original poster's calculations and question the validity of the textbook's answer.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, sharing their calculations, and expressing skepticism about the textbook's provided answer. There is a collaborative effort to verify the original poster's reasoning and address the discrepancies with the textbook.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions that the textbook contains several erroneous questions, which may affect the reliability of the answers provided. This context suggests a broader issue with the material being used for study.

Amith2006
Messages
416
Reaction score
2
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.
 

Attachments

  • Opt 4.GIF
    Opt 4.GIF
    1.6 KB · Views: 497
Physics news on Phys.org
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.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
17K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
20K
Replies
3
Views
6K