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Lenses: Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

This document provides an overview of lenses for an O-level physics course. It begins by noting that lenses and mirrors have similar optical properties, with lenses refracting light based on their shape and material. Converging lenses are convex and focus light, while diverging lenses are concave and spread light out. The document then explains the key optical elements of lenses, including the principal axis and plane. It proceeds to describe three rules governing light rays and lenses: 1) Rays through the focal point refract parallel to the principal axis, 2) Rays parallel to the principal axis pass through the focal point, and 3) Rays through the lens center are unaffected. Examples applying these rules to converging and diverging lenses are

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Salman
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297 views

Lenses: Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

This document provides an overview of lenses for an O-level physics course. It begins by noting that lenses and mirrors have similar optical properties, with lenses refracting light based on their shape and material. Converging lenses are convex and focus light, while diverging lenses are concave and spread light out. The document then explains the key optical elements of lenses, including the principal axis and plane. It proceeds to describe three rules governing light rays and lenses: 1) Rays through the focal point refract parallel to the principal axis, 2) Rays parallel to the principal axis pass through the focal point, and 3) Rays through the lens center are unaffected. Examples applying these rules to converging and diverging lenses are

Uploaded by

Salman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

Lenses

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 1 of 6


Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

Remembering the basics of mirrors puts you half ways towards fully understanding lenses as well. The
same sort of rules apply, just with a few modifications.

Keep in mind that for an object to be considered a lens it must be made of a transparent material that
has an index of refraction higher than air.
● That way it will be able to refract the light as it passes through.
● Also, to get an image that isn't screwed up, we have to assume that the lens is thin.

The shape of a lens is named in a similar way to the naming of mirrors, it’s just a little more
complicated.
● All lenses are broken into two broad groups, depending on whether they focus light at a point
(converging lens), or spread it out (diverging lens).
● Converging lenses are always convex in shape, which means the centre is thicker than the
edges.
● Diverging lenses are always concave in shape, which means the edges are thicker than the
centre.
Converging Diverging

Double Convex Double Concave

Planoconvex Planoconcave

Convex meniscus Concave meniscus

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 2 of 6


Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

When drawing lenses in our sketches, we need to


put in a principle axis, just like mirrors.
● You also need to add in a principle plane,
a line that is perpendicular to the principle
axis and runs length wise through the
middle of the lens.
● We will be assuming that all refraction
happens when the light reaches this
principle plane.
○ Although this is not true, it makes our Illustration 1: Diagram showing a double convex
sketches a lot easier to do, and it is lens.
pretty accurate for lenses that are fairly
thin.
● We still draw in the focal point, but now we do it on both sides.

Rule #1: Any ray through the focus will refract parallel to the principle axis.
Same basic idea as the rule you used for mirrors,
but now the ray refracts and travels through the
O
lens.

The light ray comes off of the object and goes


through the focus. Notice that we did keep the ray
moving in the same direction until it reached the
principle plane in the lens. That’s where we bent
the light so that it would travel parallel to the
principle axis.
Illustration 2: Rule 1 goes through the focus.

Rule #2: Any ray parallel to the principle axis will refract so that it passes through the focus.

This ray starts off parallel to


the principle axis. When it
reaches the principle plane, it
refracts so that it will go
through the focus on the other
side.
I

Illustration 3: Rule 2 is parallel to the principle axis.

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 3 of 6


Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

Rule #3: Any ray that passes through the centre of the lens will come out the other side without any
refraction.

By centre, we mean where


the principle axis and O
plane cross. The ray goes
straight through as if
nothing was there. This is
because as much as the ray
is refracted one way on
one side of the lens, it will
be refracted back the other I
way on the other side of
the lens. Illustration 4: A ray goes straight through the centre.

It looks like this ray agrees with our other two, so we must be doing ok!
● The image produced is...
○ enlarged
○ inverted
○ real (yup, rays of light really went through the lens and ended up on the other side.)

Let’s look at an example using a diverging lens. We still use the same ideas, but we’ll have to look at
where the image will be formed carefully.

Illustration 5: A diverging lens with an object on the left hand side.

When we draw in the first ray


parallel to the principle axis, it
will hit the lens and diverge (be
bent away). This must mean that
if I extend the diverging ray
back down as a dotted line, it
will hit the focus on the object’s
side.

Illustration 6: The ray diverges (bends away on the other side) when it
goes through the lens.

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 4 of 6


Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

We can draw another ray that


simply goes through the centre
and see what happens…

Illustration 7: A ray through the centre still goes straight through.

Notice where this line crosses the


dotted line from the first ray? That’s
where my image will appear. Since one
of the rays is not truly there, the image
will be virtual.

Illustration 8: Showing the virtual image that is


produced.

You can use the same formulas as you did for mirrors to do calculations with mirrors. Just keep the
following rules in mind (they’re the same as the ones for mirrors…)
Ultra-Special Notes for Signs Using the Mirror Equation:
Like mirrors...
• a converging lens has a positive focal length
• a diverging lens has a negative focal length.

The object is always a positive distance, and we look at where the image appears relative to the
object...
Images on the other side of the Lens (Real) → Positive +

Images on the same side of the Lens (Virtual) → Negative -

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 5 of 6


Physics Topic 15 (Lenses) O-Levels

Prepared by: Sir Salman Saeed Page 6 of 6

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