A small jewel is suspended 0.25m in front of a vertical plane mirror that is mounted on a wall. An observer stands on the normal line to the mirror, 1.50m behind the jewel (that is, the observer’s eyes are 1.75m from the mirror surface).
Assume light travels in straight lines at speed c=3.00×108ms−1. Ignore any effects other than geometric reflection.
Answer the following.
(a) Determine the distance between the observer’s eyes and the virtual image of the jewel.
(b) Calculate the time interval, in nanoseconds, between a photon’s leaving the jewel and entering the observer’s eyes after reflecting once from the mirror.