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An object is placed at 15 cm in front of a concave mirror of radius of curvature 20 cm. The image distance would be ______ cm.

Asked in GSEB Board March 2022 · Mirror formula and magnification

Answer: (1) -30

Step-by-step solution

Given: u=-15 cm and, for a concave mirror, R=-20 cm, so f=R/2=-10 cm.

Idea: the mirror formula 1/v+1/u=1/f, with distances measured from the pole and against the incident light taken negative.

1/v=1/f-1/u=-1/(10)+1/(15).

Over the common denominator 30: 1/v=(-3+2)/(30)=-1/(30).

So v=-30 cm: a real image 30 cm in front of the mirror.

That is the expected behaviour — the object lies between f and 2f, so the image forms beyond 2f and is magnified.

Why the other options are wrong

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