When you see your appearance in a mirror, you see your image behind the mirror. This happens due to the reflection of light. The image like this formed in a mirror, through which light ray do not actually meet, is called virtual image. Images in which light rays actually meet together (e.g.- images on a cinema screen) are called real images. The pictures formed on the screen of a digital camera are real images. Real images can be displayed on a screen but the virtual images cannot be displayed on a screen. Images are of two types-
(A) Real image
(B) Virtual image
(A) Real image: If light rays emitted from a point after being reflected or refracted on a surface actually converge at a second point, then this second point is called the real image of the first point. In figure (1), I am the real image due to reflection.
(B) Virtual image: If light rays emitted from a point after being reflected or refracted on a surface seem to diverge from a second point, then this second point is called the virtual image of the first point. In figure (2), I am the virtual image due to reflection.
