A lens produces a virtual image at a distance of 12 cm when the object is placed

A lens produces a virtual image at a distance of 12 cm when the object is placed at 8 cm. What type of lens is it?

A lens produces a virtual image at a distance of 12 cm when the object is placed at 8 cm. What type of lens is it?

Step 1: Understand what a virtual image is. A virtual image is one that cannot be projected on a screen because the light rays do not actually converge at that point.
Step 2: Know that a concave lens is a type of lens that can create virtual images. It diverges light rays.
Step 3: Recognize that when an object is placed in front of a concave lens, the virtual image appears on the same side as the object.
Step 4: In this question, the object is placed at 8 cm and the virtual image is at 12 cm. Since the image distance is negative (virtual image), it indicates that the lens is concave.
Step 5: Conclude that since a virtual image is formed when the object is placed in front of the lens, the lens must be a concave lens.

Lens Types – Understanding the difference between concave and convex lenses, particularly how they form real and virtual images.
Image Formation – Knowledge of the conditions under which lenses produce virtual images, including object distance and image distance.