Real images produced by lenses can be:

• A. Formed on the same side as the object.
• B. Upright.
• C. Projected onto a screen.
• D. Smaller than the object.

Answer: (C)

Real images occur when the light rays actually converge to a point after passing through the lens, so the image can be formed somewhere in space and you can project it onto a screen. This projecting ability is what makes a real image distinct from a virtual one, which only appears where rays seem to come from and cannot be captured on a screen. For a typical converging lens with the object outside the focal length, the real image is formed on the opposite side of the lens and is inverted, not upright. The image size can be larger or smaller depending on the distances involved, but the defining, universally testable feature here is that real images can be projected onto a screen.