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An object is placed at a distance of 40 cm in front of a concave mirror of focal length 20 cm. The image produced is ______.

Asked in GUJCET 2007 · Mirror formula and magnification

Answer: (2) real, inverted and of same size

Step-by-step solution

Given: concave mirror, f = 20 cm, object 40 cm in front, so in the Cartesian convention f = -20 cm and u = -40 cm.

Idea: 40 cm = 2f, so the object sits at the centre of curvature R = 2f = 40 cm.

Mirror formula 1/v+1/u = 1/f gives 1/v = -1/(20)+1/(40) = -1/(40), so v = -40 cm.

A negative v here means the image is in front of the mirror, where light really converges, so it is real.

Magnification m = -v/u = -(-40)/(-40) = -1: same size, and the minus sign says inverted.

So the image is real, inverted and of the same size as the object.

Why the other options are wrong

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