Source: Extra Practice

If you look at a distant tree through a pinhole camera, what kind of image would you observe on the screen inside the camera?

Options

Option A

An erect and magnified image.

Option B

An inverted and magnified image.

Option C

An erect and diminished image.

Option D is correct

An inverted and diminished image.

Explanation

In a pinhole camera, light rays travel in straight lines (rectilinear propagation). Rays from the top of the object pass through the pinhole and reach the bottom of the screen, and rays from the bottom of the object reach the top of the screen. This causes the image to be inverted. Due to the small aperture and the spread of light, the image formed on the screen is also generally smaller, or diminished, especially for distant objects.