Video narration
Why can a projector image appear on a screen, while the image in a mirror cannot? Think of a classroom projector and a plane mirror. Both show images, but seeing an image is not enough. With the projector, light rays travel to the screen and actually meet there. That forms a Real Image-one you can obtain on a screen. In the mirror, reflected light rays do not really meet behind it. They only appear to come from that point. That forms a Virtual Image. You can see it, but you cannot obtain it directly on a screen. The test: do light rays really meet, or only seem to? If they really meet, the screen catches the image. If they only seem to meet, it is a Virtual Image, like the mirror image. That answers it: screen catches an image only where light rays meet. Subscribe to TuitionPedia.