Question

Statement I : Rays incident on a convex mirror from a point source of light, after reflection diverge.
Statement II : A convex mirror can never form a real image for a point source of light.

• A. Both the statements are correct and Statement II infers from Statement I
• B. Both the statements are correct but Statement II doesn’t infers from Statement I
• C. Statement I is correct but Statement II is incorrect
• D. Statement I is incorrect and Statement II is correct

Answer 1

The correct option is A Both the statements are correct and Statement II infers from Statement I

An image formed by the real intersection of the rays after being altered by an optical device is a real image.
In this case we can say that the image formed by real intersection of the rays after getting reflected from the mirror is a real image.
So, to form a real image, the rays after getting reflected from the mirror, must intersect.
In a convex mirror, the rays from a point source after reflection diverge (Can be seen in the diagram)( convex mirror is a diverging mirror) and hence can never meet or intersect . So, a convex mirror can never form a real image for a point source of light.

So we see that not only both the statements are correct but also, the second statement infers from the first.
Although, there is a case possible when a convex mirror can form a real image. See the diagram below :

While, this is not the case of a point source of light as we can see, the incident rays are converging whereas a point source of light would always produce diverging incident rays. This is the condition with a virtualObject, which you will learn about soon, in an upcoming module.