Chapter 36, Problem 36.1QQ

You are standing approximately 2 m away from a mirror. The mirror has water spots on its surface. True or False: It is possible for you to see the water spots and your image both in focus at the same time.

To determine

To say True or False: It is possible for the observer to see the water droplets and its image both in focus at the same time.

Answer to Problem 36.1QQ

Correct answer: False.

Explanation of Solution

The water droplets are present at the surface of the mirror and in the case of plane mirror the object distance and image distance are equal so the image formed by the water droplets will also be at the surface of the mirror.

For the case of the observer, the observer is standing $2\text{m}$ in front of the mirror so the image will also be formed at $2\text{m}$ back of the mirror.

Hence, one image is at the surface and one image is at $2\text{m}$ back of the mirror. The limit of human eye doesn’t allow seeing two things at two distances while focusing at the same time. The ability of eye to resolve image restrict the observer to see two things which are some distance apart.