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Multiple Choice

Camera obscura is which of the following?

Light from the outside passes through a tiny opening and projects an inverted image onto a surface inside a dark space. That surface is typically a wall or screen, which is why projecting onto a wall is the correct description. The image is formed by projection, not by reflection, so it isn’t about a mirror. It isn’t about placing the image into a camera body, which belongs to later camera designs. The wall provides a convenient flat surface to view and study the projected scene, and the inversion happens because light travels in straight lines and crosses at the small hole.

Light from the outside passes through a tiny opening and projects an inverted image onto a surface inside a dark space. That surface is typically a wall or screen, which is why projecting onto a wall is the correct description. The image is formed by projection, not by reflection, so it isn’t about a mirror. It isn’t about placing the image into a camera body, which belongs to later camera designs. The wall provides a convenient flat surface to view and study the projected scene, and the inversion happens because light travels in straight lines and crosses at the small hole.