In: Physics
What is a "virtual image"? Give a real life example.
a virtual image is one which we cannot obtain on the screen.It can be seen by eye or photographed by a camera but it cannot be taken on screen.
This can be further understood with the help of an example such as a mirror you see in your room.when you light a torch infront of a mirror you see the rays are coming from a torch inside the mirror.In actual you are outside the mirror with a torch in your hand but what you see is yourself standing inside the mirror with a torch in your hand and it gives you the impression that from inside the mirror you are standing with a torch and the light is coming from inside of mirror.
This image of you standing inside mirror with a torch is called the virtual image.Yo have no access to this image.You cannot obtain it directly on a screen but the image is still there.But in reality you are outside the mirror with the torch in your hand.If you extend the reflected rays then you will observe that they will meet somewhere behind the mirror which is considered as a virtual image of you holding that torch in your hand.
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