Why is the following situation impossible? The perpendicular distance of a lightbulb from a large plane mirror is twice the perpendicular distance of a person from the mirror. Light from the lightbulb reaches the person by two paths: (1) it travels to the mirror and reflects from the mirror to the person,and (2) it travels directly to the person without reflecting off the mirror. The total distance traveled by the light in the first case is 3.10 times the distance traveled by the light in the second case.

Why is the following situation impossible? The perpendicular distance of a lightbulb from a large plane mirror is twice the perpendicular distance of a person from the mirror. Light from the lightbulb reaches the person by two paths: (1) it travels to the mirror and reflects from the mirror to the person,and (2) it travels directly to the person without reflecting off the mirror. The total distance traveled by the light in the first case is 3.10 times the distance traveled by the light in the second case.