Answer to Question #163718 in Physics for Smayya Ruganyira

Question #163718

Explain why ambulances have the word ‘ambulance’ reversed on the front bonnet of the car?

If a stool 0.5 m high is placed 2 m in front of a plane mirror, how far behind the plane mirror will the image be and how high will the image be?

If Susan stands 3 m in front of a plane mirror, how far from Susan will her image be located?

A dental technician uses a small mirror that gives a magnification of 4.0 when it is held 0.60cm from a tooth. What is the radius of the curvature of the mirror?

An object 2 cm high is placed 4 cm from a convex mirror. If the focal length of the mirror is 4 cm, find the position and size of the image by means of a ray diagram. Is the image real or virtual? Calculate the magnification.

Expert's answer

Explain why ambulances have the word ‘ambulance’ reversed on the front bonnet of the car?

Because what the drivers see in their mirrors is reflected. If they see a reflection of a reversed word, they will read it the normal way.

If a stool 0.5 m high is placed 2 m in front of a plane mirror, how far behind the plane mirror will the image be and how high will the image be?

Plane mirrors do not distort: 2 m behind the mirror, 0.5 m high.

If Susan stands 3 m in front of a plane mirror, how far from Susan will her image be located?

The distance will be 6 m (distance of Susan to the mirror added to distance from the mirror to the reflection).

A dental technician uses a small mirror that gives a magnification of 4.0 when it is held 0.60cm from a tooth. What is the radius of the curvature of the mirror?

We know that

"m=\\frac{v}{u}=\\frac{-v}{-0.6}=4,\\\\\\space\\\\\nv=2.4\\text{ cm}.\\\\\\space\\\\\n\n\\frac 1f=\\frac1v+\\frac1u,\\\\\\space\\\\\n\\frac{1}{f}=\\frac{1}{2.4}+\\frac{1}{-0.6},\\\\\\space\\\\\nf=-0.8\\text{ cm}.\\\\\nR=2f=-1.6\\text{ cm}."

Use https://ophysics.com/l10.html to build the ray diagram: