Question

Part 2: Image Location
1. Place the mirror in the mirror support. Adjust the mirror support so it is located on the edge of the mirror.
2. Set the mirror in the center of a sheet of paper and place one bolt on its head directly in front of the mirror (Figure 6). Mark the locations of the mirror and bolt on the paper.

Figure 6: Step 2 reference. The Blue line represents the mirror and the black dot represents the bolt.
3.
4. Bring your eyes to table level and adjust your position until you can see the image of
the bolt in the mirror. Use the method you learned in Part 1 of the Procedure to locate the position of the image. Place the second bolt in the location of the image. Mark this location on the piece of paper and remove the second bolt.
5. Place your head at a different location where you can see the image of the bolt and find the image’s location. Bring your eyes down to table level and look at the image in the mirror. Remove the mirror and note how the second bolt appears compared to the mirror image.

Figure 7: Step 7 reference.
6. Rotate the piece of paper so it is now horizontal. Shift the mirror so its edge is flush with the bottom of the paper. Move the first bolt near the top right corner of the page. See Figure 7 for a pictorial setup.
7. Repeat Steps 3 - 4.
8. On a separate sheet of paper, take one bolt and place it on its head at any location. Place your eye at table level and use the ruler to draw a line from your eye to the bolt. Repeat this for three different observer locations.
9. Turn the paper over and arrange the mirror and bolt similar to Figure 6. Use the ruler to draw lines of sight to the image from three different observation points. Remove the mirror and extend the lines behind the mirror. Where do the lines cross? Record your observations in the space provided after the procedure.

Please help me answer the following questions:
1. What do all of the lines in Step 7 have in common? where do the lines cross in Step 8?

2. In all of the cases where you found the location of the bolt using the method from Part 1, describe the location of the image to the original bolt. Do all observations agree on the location of the image?

3. What is the minimum number of lines you need to determine the location of an object? Why?

4. Did your methods of parallax and ray tracing agree on the location of the image? Explain any discrepancies. How do our eyes assume light is traveling?

Answer 1