A car drives by approximately 20 meters from the convex side of a refl...
Focal Length of a Reflective Surface
To determine the focal length of a reflective surface, we can use the mirror equation:
1/f = 1/di + 1/do
where f is the focal length, di is the image distance, and do is the object distance.
Given information:
- The car drives by approximately 20 meters from the convex side of the reflective sculpture.
- The image of the car appears to be one-fifth the size of the car.
Let's solve the problem step by step:
1. Define the object distance:
The object distance (do) is the distance between the object (car) and the reflective surface. In this case, the car is driving by approximately 20 meters from the convex side of the sculpture. Therefore, the object distance (do) is 20 meters.
2. Determine the image distance:
The image distance (di) is the distance between the image of the car and the reflective surface. Since the image appears to be one-fifth the size of the car, it means the image is smaller and closer to the reflective surface. Let's assume the size of the car is C and the size of the image is I. According to the given information, I = (1/5)C. Since the image is smaller than the object, the image distance (di) will be negative. Therefore, di = -20 meters.
3. Substitute the values into the mirror equation:
1/f = 1/di + 1/do
Substituting di = -20 meters and do = 20 meters into the equation, we get:
1/f = 1/(-20) + 1/20
Simplifying the equation further:
1/f = -1/20 + 1/20
1/f = 0
Since 1/f = 0, the focal length (f) is infinity. However, in the given options, there is no option for infinity. Therefore, we need to consider the sign of the focal length.
A convex reflective surface has a positive focal length. Since the focal length is not provided in positive infinity, we can conclude that the focal length of this reflective surface is negative.
The correct answer is option 'D': -5.0 meters.
A car drives by approximately 20 meters from the convex side of a refl...
- Let’s determine what is given in the question stem. The object distance is 20 meters, and the magnification is +⅕ since we can assume that the image is upright.
- We use the magnification formula to determine the image distance:

- Next we use the mirror equation to determine the focal length:

- The focal length is -5.0 meters, and it is negative because there is a diverging or convex mirror.