A concave mirror of radius of curvature 40 centimeters is placed facing an object. If a real image is formed at a distance of 60 centimeters in front of the mirror, what is the object distance from the mirror pole?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Using the mirror formula with focal length equal to half the radius of curvature at minus twenty centimeters and real image distance at minus sixty centimeters yields an object distance of minus thirty centimeters. Distances measured against the direction of incident light are assigned negative numerical values according to the Cartesian sign convention. Concave mirrors are widely utilized in reflecting astronomical telescopes and shaving mirrors due to their converging optical properties.