Is Snoopy right with his warning to Woodstock?

Apparent Depth

Apparent depth is found from

di = - do (n1/n2)

In most cases, we will be concerned with the apparent depth of an image viewed from air where n1 = 1. Then the apparent depth is given by

di = - do (1/n2)

Remember, the minus sign tells us this is a virtual image.

All of this means that Charles Schulz's line for his Peanuts cartoon should read as this --

Suppose you stand in a swimming pool and look down at your toes and find that they appear to be 0.75 m below the water's surface. How deep is the water?

Images Formed by Curved Mirrors

Lenses

Return to Ch 24, Mirrors and Lenses
(c) Doug Davis, 2003; all rights reserved