Object and Image Distances

Equipment:

• optical benches
• inbending mirrors
• illuminated objects

1. Set up the optical bench with the mirror at zero on the centimeter scale. Set up the illuminated object on the bench as well.

2. Each group will locate the image for their own value of the object distance, by finding where a piece of paper has to be placed in order to see the image on it. (The instructor will do one point as well.) Note that you will have to tilt the mirror a little so that the paper on which you project the image doesn't block the light from the illuminated object.

Is the image real or virtual? How do you know? Is it inverted or uninverted?

Draw a ray diagram.

3. Measure the image distance and write your result in the table on the board. Do the same for the magnification.

4. What do you notice about the trend of the data on the board? Draw a second ray diagram with a different object distance, and show why this makes sense. Some tips for doing this correctly: (1) For simplicity, use the point on the object that is on the mirror's axis. (2) You need to trace two rays to locate the image. To save work, don't just do two rays at random angles. You can either use the on-axis ray as one ray, or do two rays that come off at the same angle, one above and one below the axis. (3) Where each ray hits the mirror, draw the normal line, and make sure the ray is at equal angles on both sides of the normal.

5. We will find the mirror's focal length from the instructor's data-point. Then, using this focal length, calculate a theoretical prediction of the image distance, and write it on the board next to the experimentally determined image distance.