Answer: The focal length of the cornea-lens system in his eye must be LESS THAN the distance between the front and back of his eye.
Explanation:
The human eye the front part of the eye is the CORNEA. This is the tough white transparent part of the eye that helps in the refraction of light rays. While the backside of the eye is the RETINA. This is the part of the eye when images are focused.
When a normal eye is at rest, parallel rays from a distant object are focused on the retina. The ability of the eye - lens to focus points at different distances on the retina is known as accomodation. The adjustment of the eye lens to focus objects of varying distances is brought about by the ciliary muscles. The have the ability to change the shape of the eye which leads to change in focal length.
When a person with normal vision looks at a distant object at infinity, the lens brings parallel rays to focus on the retina. Thus, the furthest point which the eye can see distinctly is called the far point of the eye and it's infinity for a normal eye. But Joe was able to focus his eye on the tree, meaning that the tree was within his near point. This is the nearest point at which an object is clearly seen. Therefore, when the effective focal length of the cornea-lens system changes, it changes the location of the image of any object in one's field of view.
