A student submits the following description of a ray diagram for a concave mirror of focal length 30 cm.
• The object arrow is located 50 cm to the left of the mirror’s vertex on the principal axis.
• Ray 1 is drawn parallel to the principal axis, strikes the mirror, and is shown reflecting back through the centre of curvature.
• Ray 2 is drawn through the focal point toward the mirror and is shown reflecting back parallel to the principal axis.
• Ray 3 is drawn through the vertex of the mirror and is shown reflecting back through the focal point.
You suspect that the student has made multiple errors.
(a) Identify and describe two distinct errors present in the student’s description of the reflected rays.
(b) For each error identified in part (a), explain the correct behaviour of the ray after reflection, referencing the appropriate geometric rule.
(c) Redraw or describe accurately how all three principal rays should appear for the stated object location, and state where the correct rays intersect to form the image.
(d) Based on your corrected diagram, determine qualitatively whether the image is real or virtual, upright or inverted, and enlarged or reduced. Justify your answer.