Answer to Question #124900 in Optics for SHASHWAT PRATAP SINGH

Question

Why can we see our real and inverted image inside a concave mirror when the image is formed in front of it and not behind?

Sir if you say that if our eyes try to image the real image formed by the mirror in the mirror it self then-

Imagine a situation where we have a concave mirror is of large size and we ourself is object and we are directly seeing in the concave mirror and moving backwards so when I stand between focus and poleI see my virtual image slowly when I move backward between focus and centre of curvature then my image must be forming behind me then how my eyes are able to see my real image in the mirror….

Sir to image the real image my eyes must see the image first but in this case how without seeing the image my eyes can see the real image in the mirror it self…..

Sir please answer me in detail

Answer 1

The fact that we can see real images formed by concave mirrors when we stand between the center and the focus can be easily explained if we remember that we see not by an optical sensor with a fixed focal length, but by an optical system with a variable focal length called eye. So, if our eye cannot get a sharp image, it adjusts the focal length so that the image “falls” of the retina as if the image were in front of our eyes.