Practice portal › Ray Optics and Optical Instruments › Reflection by Plane and Spherical Mirrors
Asked in RS Academy GUJCET booklet · Mirror formula and magnification
Given: two concave mirrors of equal focal length f facing each other, O midway between them, and the final image back at O.
Idea: the figure shows the beam between the mirrors running parallel to the axis, and a ray leaves a concave mirror parallel to the axis only if it set out from that mirror's focus.
So O must sit at the focus of the first mirror: with separation d, d/2 = f.
That parallel beam then falls on the second mirror, which brings it to its own focus -- and since O is midway, that focus is O itself.
Hence d = 2f.
One other separation also makes object and image coincide, d = 4f, with O at the common centre of curvature so each mirror sends light straight back on itself; it is not among the choices here.
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