Question

A concave mirror has a focal length of 0.50 m. If an object produces a virtual image 0.19 m from the mirror, where is it located?

Answer 1

In order to calculate the object's position, we can use the formula below:

`(1)/(f)+(1)/(d_o)+(1)/(d_i)`

Where f is the focal length, do is the object's position and di is the image's position.

Using f = 0.5 m and di = -0.19 m (we use a negative value because the image is virtual), we have:

`\begin{gathered} (1)/(0.5)=(1)/(d_o)+(1)/(-0.19)\\ \\ 2=(1)/(d_o)-5.263\\ \\ (1)/(d_o)=2+5.263\\ \\ (1)/(d_o)=7.263\\ \\ d_o=(1)/(7.263)\\ \\ d_o=0.14\text{ m} \end{gathered}`

Therefore the object is at 0.14 meters from the mirror.