Final answer:
When an object is placed at 50 cm in front of a converging lens with a focal length of 20 cm, the image formed will be real, inverted, and smaller than the object. The exact position and size of the image can be found using lens equations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Image Formation
When an object is placed further than the focal length of a converging lens, like at a distance of 50 cm in this case, with a focal length of 20 cm, the nature of the image formed can be determined using the lens formula 1/f = 1/do + 1/di, where f is the focal length, do is the object distance, and di is the image distance. By plugging in the values (f = 20 cm and do = 50 cm) into the lens equation, we can solve for di to find out where the image will be formed.
The resulting image in this scenario will be real, inverted, and smaller than the object due to the position of the object being beyond the focal point. To calculate the magnification (m), which is the ratio of the image height to the object height, we use the formula m = -di/do. Using the values of di (which was calculated) and do (50 cm), we can find the magnification of the image.