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opticsVirtualvsRealimagePhysicsStackExchange

12/3/2014

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VirtualvsRealimage
I'mdoingmagnificationandlensinclasscurrently,andIreallydon'tgetwhyvirtualandrealimagesarecalledwhattheyare.
Avirtualimageoccurstheobjectislessthanthefocallengthofthelensfromthelens,andarealimageoccurswhenanobjectisfurther
thanfocallength.
Bywhyvirtualandreal?What'sthedifference?Youcan'ttouchanimagenomatterwhatit'scalled,becauseit'sjustlight.
optics

geometricoptics

editedJan10'11at17:17
Malabarba
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askedJan9'11at20:23
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Jonathan.
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4 Goodconceptualquestion,actually.NoldorinJan9'11at21:57

Youcanusefollowingapptovisualizerealvsimegenaryimage.play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.shakti.rayopticsShaktiMalikFeb21at6:25

3Answers
Youcanprojectarealimageontoascreenorwall,andeverybodyintheroomcanlookatit.A
virtualimagecanonlybeseenbylookingintotheopticsandcannotbeprojected.
Asaconcreteexample,youcanprojectaviewoftheothersideoftheroomusingaconvexlens,
andcannotdosowithaconcavelens.

I'llstealsomeimagefromWikipediatohelphere:
Firstconsiderthelineopticsofrealimages(fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_image):

Noticethatthelinesthatconvergetoformtheimagepointarealldrawnsolid.Thismeansthat
thereareactualrays,composedofphotonoriginatingatthesourceobjects.Ifyouputascreenin
thefocalplane,lightreflectedfromtheobjectwillconvergeonthescreenandyou'llgetaluminous
image(asinacinemaoraoverheadprojector).
Nextexaminethesituationforvirtualimages(fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_image):

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/2658/virtualvsrealimage

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opticsVirtualvsRealimagePhysicsStackExchange

Noticeherethattheimageisformedbyaoneormoredashedlines(possiblywithsomesolid
lines).Thedashedlinesaredrawoffthebackofsolidlinesandrepresenttheapparentpathoflight
raysfromtheimagetotheopticalsurface,butnolightfromtheobjectevermovesalongthose
paths.Thislightenergyfromtheobjectisdispersed,notcollectedandcannotbeprojectedontoa
screen.Thereisstilla"image"there,becausethosedispersedraysallappeartobecomingfrom
theimage.Thus,asuitabledetector(likeyoureye)can"see"theimage,butitcannotbeprojected
ontoascreen.
editedJan17'11at14:43

answeredJan9'11at21:20
dmckee
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Thanksfortheanswer,ithelpsquiteabut,couldyoumaybeexpandonit,likewhyyoucan'tprojectavirtual
images? Jonathan. Jan9'11at22:32

Thisanswerdoesn'tmaketheimagecleartome.(Nopunintended!)NoldorinJan9'11at22:34

1 @Kit:BarelinkstooutsideresourcesarediscouragedbecauseStackExchangesitesaremeanttoberesources
thatstandontheirown,andalinkplustextdescribingthepicturesattheotherendisunreliablebecausethe
picturesmightchange.Thatsaid,linksaregoodforlicensereasons.Added.dmckee Jan17'11at14:42

1 @VineetMenon:Becauseyoureyecontainsalens,whichitselfsformsarealimageontheretina.
FrdricGrosshansJun13'12at17:45

1 @IamwhoIsayIamWhentherayspassthroughtherealimagetheyaredivergingagainanditisexactlythesame
asseeingavirtualimage.So,shortanswer:yes.dmckee May6at19:06

Forarealimage,raysfromasinglesourcepointconvergetoasinglepointontheothersideofthe
lens.Thismeansthatapointontheimageremainswelldefinedaftertheopticaltransformation
(refractionbylens).
Foravirtualimage,raysfromasinglesourcepointdivergeaftertheypassthroughthelens.This
meansthattheapointontheimageisnolongerwelldefinedaftertheopticaltransformation.
Realistically,whatyou'llseeonascreenplaceattheotherendofadiverging(concave)lensisa
largehazeofweaklight(sincetherayshavedivergedsogreatly).
Notethatconvex(converging)singlelensesalwaysproducerealimages,whileconcave(diverging)
singlelensesalwaysproducevirtualimages.Formirrorsit'sgenerallytheotherwayround(there
areexceptionsthough).Similarlyfordoublelenses,thingsarereversed(comparedtosingle
lenses).
editedJan10'11at18:16

answeredJan9'11at22:39
Noldorin
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Soamagnifyingglassforexampleisthatarealorvirtualimage? Jonathan. Jan9'11at23:02

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Thatcreatesavirtualimageactually.IshouldclarifythatpointintheanswerIonlymeansinglelensesthere(not
doublelenseslikemagnifyingglasses).NoldorinJan9'11at23:56

1 Yougotthingsmixeduponthelastparagraph.Aconvexmirroralwaysproducesvirtualimages,butaconcave
mirrorcanproduceboth.Ithinkthesame(butreversed)happensforlenses.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curved_mirror
MalabarbaJan10'11at1:00

Amagnifyingglassisnotjustonelens??Thatexplainsalot:) Jonathan. Jan10'11at1:09

@Bruce:Readagain,Ithinkyou'llfindyougotthingsmuddled.Iquote:"Formirrorsit'spreciselytheotherway
round.".Pleasedon'tbesoquicktodownvote.NoldorinJan10'11at1:59

Operationally,onecandistinguishrealandvirtualimagesbyattachingasmallbutverypowerful
lightbulbtothesource.
Ifyouinsertyourhandneartherealimage,thehandwillgetburnedbecausethelightraysfromthe
sourceactuallyconvergeatthepointoftherealimage.Ifyoumanagetoinsertyourhandtothe
pointofthevirtualimage,yourhandwon'tburnbecausetherearenolightraysoverthere(and
sometimes,thereisawall).
Anordinaryflatmirrorcreatesavirtualimagebecausetherearenolightraysontheinternalsideof
themirror.
Theopticsinthehumaneyecreatesarealimagewheretheretinaislocatedandsensitivecells
actuallyreadtheinformationabouttheoriginalsource.Thesamemechanismworksindigital
cameras.
Realimagesmaybeproducedbyconverginglenses(eye,digitalcamera)andconcavemirrors.
Virtualimagesmaybeproducedbydiverginglensesandconvexmirrors,butalsobyconcave
mirrorsandconverginglensesifyouplacethesourcewithinthefocallength.
answeredJan14'11at1:02
LuboMotl
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IloveyoubroniceansweryoushouldbeawardedwithanobleprizeHelpIneedsomebody'shelpOct5'13at
16:16

protectedbyQmechanic Mar13'13at16:15
Thankyouforyourinterestinthisquestion.Becauseithasattractedlowqualityanswers,postingan
answernowrequires10reputationonthissite.
Wouldyouliketoansweroneoftheseunansweredquestionsinstead?

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