Unit learning outcomes for whole optics course:

Symbols:
λ
θ
°
↓
↑
∠
Δ
≠

End of tri ezam: 50MCQ, online, 40% is calc.based Qs

Week 1 (L1):
What is light?
-”Electromagnetic radiation within a certain portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be
perceived by the human eye”
-Human eyes can only detect wavelength 400-700 nanometers

What is the nature of light?

Oscillating magnetic fields produce electric fields, and vice versa
->Electric+magnetic fields oscillate in perpendicular planes, but are in phase with each other
=>Creates EM waves
-All of this begins from an oscillating charged particle
-Light is a wave of energy, but it carries no mass; it transmits energy
-EM waves produced by vibration of charged particles
-Have electrical+magnetic properties
-Travels through vacuums at speed of light
-Has a dual nature: can be a wave or particle (photon)

Light as a wave: Small disturbance in an electric field creates a small magnetic field, which
then creates an electric field, and so on.

Interference of light
-Young’s Interference with Light: Proved that light can be waves as he observed EM waves
amplify or cancel each other.
-Under certain condo, multiple light waves can interfere with each other=>increase/decrease
amp of light waves

Light as a particle:

-Intensity of photographic paper above for varying times shows light can be particles. If light
were a wave, all the papers would have similar intensities as identical wave freq.

Photoelectric effect:
- E- jumps reflects off metal only when light is of a sufficiently high frequency; if light is a wave,
all freq. should be able to reflect
-If energy of light particles absorbed by delocalised e- is greater than binding energy of e- with
metal atoms, e- will reflect off metal
-Energy required for this is called binding energy

Wavelength: distance between 2 consecutive crests/troughs

Frequency: number of waves passing through in 1 sec; Hz is unit for waves/sec

Long EM waves have the lowest freq=>carrying the least energy. Adding energy decreases
wavelength, increasing wave freq.

Energy depends on how many times accelerating charged particles oscillate about an
equilibrium in a given time

Light and its nature

-Light can be reflected, absorbed or transmitted
-Black absorbs all light

Light sources:
Primary sources: produce light, can have high temperatures. Can use electrical/chemical (e.g.
bioluminescence) means to produce. Can have a dominant wavelength in a spectrum.
Secondary sources: Receive light, then partially or fully send back. Only a secondary source if
reflects light.

Additive colour mix:

-Primary additive colours are RGB
-Mixing of lights of diff colours
-White is obtained by mixing all additive primaries

Subtractive colour mix:

-Mixing colour materials
-Subtractive colour mixing: creating a new colour by removing wavelengths thru absorption
-Pigments reflect wavelengths that we see, absorb unseen ones
-3 primary pigment colours (classic primaries): red, yellow, blue (magenta, yellow, cyan)
-Black obtained from mix 3 classic primaries

If wavelengths invisible to our eyes are reflected off an object, the object will appear black bc all
the visible wavelengths would’ve been absorbed

FIlters:
Neutral density filter: filters that reduce (partially absorb) all wavelengths
Week 1 (L2)
Waves
What is a wave? A disruption (change) that propagates (wave movement) through the available
space or medium without transmitting particles.

Wave properties:
-Doesn’t transmit or propagate material
-Particles return to equilibrium position
-Energy transmitted as perturbation advances (as propagation occurs)
-Intereference, diffraction and polarization can only be explained by wave theory

Interference:
-White light decomposes into fringes of different wavelengths (colours), we can only see 1
wavelength=>only can see dark and bright

Diffraction:
-Light bends around corners
-Light spreads when passing thru a small slit/gap=>light propagates in diff directions (unlike
interference)
-Caused by light propagation from same wavefront, but interference caused by propagation
from diff.wavefronts

Polarization:
-Direction of vibration of particles as wave propagates

Longitudinal waves
-Particles oscillate in direction parallel to wave movement (e.g. sound waves)
-Particles move left/right, wave movement is also left/right

Compressions: Particles move towards each other (point where particles are closest together in
longitudinal waves)
Rarefactions: Particles move away from each other (point where particles are furthest away
from each other in longitudinal waves)

Transverse waves
-Particles oscillate perpendicular to direction of wave movement (e.g. EM waves)

-Particles move up/down, but wave moves left/right

Harmonic waves
-Special type of transverse wave
-Periodic: wave shape regularly repeated
-Shape described by Harmonic Function: y=Asinθ=Acos(πθ/2)
-y gives vertical coordinate, θ gives horizontal coordinate
-We refer to θ as ‘phase’
-Amp^2 is proportional to energy carried by wave (irradiance), bigger amp=bigger energy

Phase:

-Phase/period is not to be confused with wavelength

Formulas:

c=speed of light (300,000km/s in vacuum), λ=1 wavelength=1 cycle, T=1 period=time

between 2 consecutive crests

f=freq. (Hz)

=>

Wavelength and freq. are inversely proportional:

↑Freq=↓wavelength

Wave propagation:
-EM waves propagate in 3D (sphere shape)
Wave fronts: The surface passing thru all points in the wave that have the same phase. They
are the rings/circles below
Rays: Arrows pointing to direction of wave propagation
Vergence:
-The curvature of wavefronts
-Consider that light always propagates left->right
-L=1/r
-It is the angle of light…
-Measured in diopters (D)
Vergence=

Point source:
-Source of light
-Is infinitely small/sufficiently far away that it appears infinitely small

Vergence:
Convergent light:
-Focusing in onto 1 point
-Wavefront curvature increases as light propagates/moves outwards
=>Positive vergence (as light gets stronger as it zones in)
-Concentric circles increase in curvature (vergence) as light propogates, until forming an ‘image
point’ at the centre

Divergent light:
-Spreading out from a ‘point source’
-Wavefront curvature decreases as light propagates
=>Negative vergence (as light gets dimmer as it spreads out)

Zero vergence light: A

-Light source from so far away that it is considered to be at at ∞
=>Wavefronts have 0 curvature/are straight=>0 vergence
=>Plane wavefronts
=>Rays parallel to each other
E.g. Sun is considered to be at optical ∞
=>Sunlight reaches Earth’s surface as almost plane wavefronts

Week 2 (L3)
Intro to quantum physics optics and photometry
L3 covers the 1st and 5th learning outcomes
Atoms

-Exists in orbitals (shells)

-The further the orbital from the nucleus, the higher the energy
-E- move up and down diff.orbitals by absorb/emit energy
-Ground state: Minimum energy state for an e-

Ejecting electrons

-If photon’s energy is sufficient, an e- will be emitted, leaving the atom in an excited state
=>E- from higher orbitals move down to return atom to normal state

Quantum Theory
-Energy is quantized (transferred) in quanta (small parcels)

Photons
-A quantum of radiation energy
-Essentially, the smallest part of a light beam that can retain the beam’s properties
(freq.,wavelength, energy)
-Photons AKA wave particles/quantum particles
-Carries very little energy

E=energy of photon, h=Planck’s constant=6.63x10^-34 J⋅S

According to formula, ↑freq.=↑energy

Producing photons
-When e- drops to lower energy state, energy emitted as photons
-Released energy=diff.of energy lvls of the relevant orbitals
-Released energy=proportional to (energy of?) photon emitted
-If freq.of emitted photon is in visible spectrum->seen as light
-Bigger drop between orbitals=higher freq.EM wave emitted
Emission spectrum
-White light can be separated using diffraction prisms
-Diffraction can produce discrete (atomic) or continuous (thermal) wavelengths of light
-Discrete: gaps between light produced=>prod.from atomic sources
Continuous: no gaps between light produced

-X-axis=freq., height of peaks=intensity

This is an emission spectrum graph

-Peaks prod. As atoms release photons at various wavelengths

Absorption spectrum

-Dips as light is absorbed at atoms

Atomic absorption/emission of light

-Discrete: certain wavelengths absorbed, some transmitted

Fraunhofer Lines
-Explains discrete wavelengths’ relation to atomic sources
-Fraunhofer lines=spectra lines for absorption spectrum
-Freq.of absorbed/emitted spectra are proportional to energy lvl
-Wavelengths corresponding to the jumps between mediums are absorbed=>prod.lack of light in
that absorption spectrum

Thermal sources
-Continuous: all wavelengths visible
-Can make object emit light through thermal source (incandescence)
-Heat->object’s particles move more->oscillate->EM waves produced
-Heat doesn’t have fixed energy state=>prod.a range of frequencies=>continuous wavelengths
-Max wavelength prod. By max temperature
Black bodies
-Theoretical concept; insulated object with 1 gap for energy to enter
-Ideally, it absorbs all energy (continues to be black)
-However, impossible bc ↑temp= light produced=>not black anymore
-Heating things creates higher wavelengths
-Wein’s Displacement Law: peak wavelength is inversely proportional to the
temperature of the black body

Measuring light
Radiometry
-Concerning all light spectra present
-Measures radiant energy produced by electromagnetic source
-Detection and measurement of EM waves prod.by any source

Photometry
-Measures the perceivable radiant power (visible light spectra)
-It takes into account how our eyes interact with light, that we perceive some
wavelengths brighter than others
-The higher the luminous efficiency (ratio of luminous flux: radiant flux), the more
sensitive we are to that wavelength=>we perceive it brighter

Radiant power/flux
Φe=radiant flux
-Radiometric measure of electric power used by light source
Radiant energy emitted, reflected, transmitted or received per unit of time
-Unit=joules/sec=watts

Luminous power/flux
-Photometric measure of output from light source within visible range
-Is the basic unit for photometry
-Unit=lumens

Steradians (solid angle)

-Area of an angle made by a light beam that falls onto a surface
Radiant intensity
-Is the radiant power/flux per solid angle
Unit: W/sr

Luminous intensity
-Is the luminous power/flux per solid angle
Unit: Candela=lm/sr

Radiance
-Is the radiant intensity per unit of projected area of extended source

Irradiance
-Radiant flux/power received by a surface per unit area
-Unit: W/m^2

Iluminance:
-Luminous flux received by a surface per unit area
-Unit: lux=lm/m^2

Inverse square law for illuminance

-The illuminance (lumens falling on a surface) decreases with the square of the distance as the point
source is moved away from the perpendicular surface=>illuminance is inversely proportional to
distance^2

E=illumination falling on surface, I=intensity of the point source, d=distance from

point source to surface

Lambert’s Cosine Law of Illumination

-For light source not perpendicular to surface, but rather oblique (slanted)
E=lcosθ/D^2; l=luminous flux (candela), D=horizontal distance source to object, cosθ=angle between
horizontal axis and oblique light

Week 2 (L4)
Geometry basics
-Small radius for sphere=high curvature

Sign convention

-Arrow in middle=lens
-Area before lens=object space=state of points containing the rays entering the optical system,
after lens=image space
-Distance measured opposite direction of light (right->left)=neg-
-Distance measured in direction of light=pos+

Vergence calculation:
-Measured in diopters (1m/radius D)

Refractive index
-n=refractive index
-n=1 for vacuums

n=refrac.index of medium, c=speed of light (vaccum), v=velocity of light (medium)

-λ decreases when light is in medium (n>1), as waves travel slower in medium=>end up bunched up
together

Wavelength medium=wavelength vacuum/refractive index

n=λ(vaccum)/λ(air) Reduced vergence:

-Reduced curvature reduces vergence
-Reduced vergence=vergence in a medium

Week 2 (L5)
Object, images and blur
-This lecture partially covers learning outcomes 2+3

Both primary+secondary sources emit some light

=>Both act as an object for an optical element (for our eyes to receive)

Optical axis is the horizontal axis passing thru centre of optical elements in optical system

Point source
-5 times rule: Distance from optical system to light source must be 5 times of the largest
dimension of the object (whatever is the longest length of the object)

On axis: Point source’s light passes through optical axis parallel to it

Off axis: Point source’s light is oblique (slanting) to optical axis

Extended sources
-Sources of light with measurable area
-Can be considered a combination of multiple point sources (on axis+off axis)
E.g. light bulbs emit light from many points=>is an extended source

Point images and extended images

When the optical system forms an image of a point object (point source), the image is also a point
considered infinitely small and called a point image
-Image point can be on axis or off axis

-When an optical system forms an image of an extended object (extended source), the image will
extend over an area formed by the combination of diff.on axis+off axis image points=>creates
extended image

Pencil of light
-A grouping of light rays coming from a point source/any 1 point of an extended source
-Passes thru optical system to form an image point
-Image point: point where reflected light rays converge to form a point=>forms a virtual image
-Pencils are convergent, divergent or parallel
-Chief ray=ray in centre of pencil

Beam
Collection of pencil of lights coming from an extended source/forming an extended image

Aperture
-Max diameter of a light beam that passes through an optical system

Blur circles
-If screen placed at image plane (plane that contains object’s projected image), image is ‘real’
-Placing screen behind/in front of image plane creates blur circles (rough circular patches)

-Blur circle gets bigger as screen (faint blue lines) is moved further behind image plane
-The smaller the blur circle, the clearer the image

Extended images and blur

-Sharp, extended image created by multiple point images
-Image points on image plane have the smallest blur circle
-Moving screen behind image plane makes blur circle bigger

Pinhole camera
-Used for an extended object
-Rays from extended source pass thru aperture to form extended image
-Converging optical system allow for sharp images
-If no converging optical system, can use aperture/small hole instead
-=>restricts size of pencil/only allows central ray to reach screen
-Smaller aperture=smaller pencil=smaller blur circles=clearer image

Eyes
-Convergent optical system
-Rays pass thru lens, form image at retina (back of eyes)
-Retina considered a screen
-Ametropia: light doesn’t focus on retina=>blurry image without correction
-Hyperopia: when light is focused behind (beyond) retina=>blur=>long-sightedness
Myopia: when light is focused before retina=>blur=>short-sightedness
-Placing pinholes in front of ametropic eyes can adjust focus of light=>corrects vision
->Used to ID if impaired vision is optical or pathological

Real images
-2 categories: physically or virtually real images

Real objects
-Physically real objects
-Light rays reaching optical system are actually diverging from an the object=>neg- vergence

Virtual objects
-Object is virtual when light entering the system is converging (bc light always diverges from a
point object)
-If converging light leaves the first lens and enters the 2nd optical system before reaching its
focus point, the 2nd optical system is a virtual object

Real images

Virtual images

-Formed when diverging light exits the optical system=>no physical object present
=>Has pos+ vergence
-The light rays don’t physically intersect at a point of the image space (shown by dotted lines)
-These rays appear to be coming from a point beyond the mirror
-To find the image, we extend the rays back into the mirror (but impossible for rays to cross
mirror)
Virtual images:

Vergence keeps decreasing (neg- vergence)as light diverges from an object

Light always diverges when it comes from point objects

Converging light rays entering lens=>light rays for this object are virtual

Week 3 (L6)
Refraction of light on flat surfaces

Refraction:
-Change in direction of light passing from 1 medium to another due to speed change
-For normal incidence (light ray vertical/perpendicular to object surface): λ changes, rays’
direction stays same=>θ stays constant across all mediums for normal incidence
-For non-normal incidence (light not perpendicular to object surface): λ changes, but rays’
direction distorted
-Change in direction of light described by angle of light ray with normal

Light path reversibility

-If light beam’s direction is reversed, it will always follow the same path (if travelling thru the same
mediums), even if reflected or refracted

1st Law of Refraction

-Incident ray: a ray that strikes a surface

-Refracted ray: a ray that has altered direction after striking a surface
-Less dense->denser medium=refracted ray bends towards normal
-Denser->less dence=refracted rays bend away from normal
2nd Law of Refraction

-Snell's Law: Let θ=incidence angle, θ’=refraction angle, n/n’=refractive indexes of

mediums
-When bend towards normal, n’/n>1
-When bend away from normal, n’/n<1
-The greater the angle of incidence, the greater the angle of refraction
-θ stays constant across all mediums for normal incidence, can be proven by Snell's Law

Dispersion: in mediums, light’s speed decreases more for shorter λ than longer λ
=>greater n value for shorter λ
-Light separated into indiv.wavelengths when pass thru object

Interface: A surface separating 2 mediums

Critical angle ( )
-The angle of incidence which causes the angle of refraction to align with the interface (90°)

=> =>
-Also, for certain angles of incidence, no light is transmitted, all is reflected

Total internal reflection

-When angle of incidence is bigger than =>no light refracted, only light reflected (within the
same medium)

-TIR Only occurs when:

- => =>refractive index of 2nd medium<than 1st medium=>light travels to lower

refractive index
E.g. TIR only happens when light from swimming pool travels into air

- is specific to specific n/n’ pairs (e.g.H2O+air always have the same )

-Also, θ> for TIR to occur

Example of TIR:
-Optical fibre has glass/plastic core+surrounded by lower refractive index material
=>TIR occurs at interface between the two materials=>light travels thru
fibres thru reflections

Frustrated TIR
-Alter refractive index of 2nd medium to change TIR->refraction
-E.g.For water to air: add oil on surface of H2O for light to refract out of H2O (bc refrac.index of
n(air) determines if ray can leave H2O)

Example:
-White light is seen where fingers don’t contact glass; this is TIR
-Where fingers touch, grease is the 2nd medium; n(grease)>n(glass)=>refraction occurs
Week 3 (L7)

Image formation
-Images only formed when rays reach our eyes
-Does light reach our eyes differently when it comes from different refractive indexes?
-Light from an object in the same medium as our eyes (air) propagates straight to eyes
-Light from another medium changes direction as it enters the same medium as eyes
(refraction)
-Recap of Sneil’s Law: -low->high refrac.index: bend towards normal
-high->low refrac.index: bend away from normal

-E.g.H2O->air:
-Eyes form an image by extending a straight line of light back to 1st medium
-No actual object at location of refrac.images=>virtual image seen at interface
-Pencil in H2O appears closer in this case, making pencil seem bent

Refrac.index recap
symbol=n/n’
-Light travels n->n’
-n: refractive index where object is immersed=>in object space
-n’: refractive index where we observe from (rays refracted already)=>in image space
-At a flat interface: there is 0 curvature=>no change in reduced vergence=>image size stays
same as object size

Apparent position of the object

-The position of the virtual image
-Lowercase L=distance from object to interface
-Lowercase L’=distance from object to virtual image=’apparent depth’
-When n>n’: light bends from normal=>virtual image is closer than actual object=>L>L’
-WHen n’>n: light bends towards normal=>virtual image is further than actual object=>L’>L
Application of Snell's Law to refrac.indexes:
If we observe light entering from air from another medium, n’=1 (n’ is air)

Formula: Reduced distance to image (apparent depth)=actual distance to object/refractive

index of medium

Deviation
-Noted by angle delta
-Is the angular bending of the incident ray after refracting thru a prism
-If we extend light ray back into mediums and it isn’t parallel with emergent ray=>deviation occurs
-Emergent ray path (light leaving medium) doesn’t equal incident ray path (actual light path)

-Angle of deviation:

Deviation=sum of deviation at indiv.surfaces

Angle of emergence
-Angle of light coming out of a medium

Angle of incidence
-Angle at which light hits a surface

Lateral displacement
-Occurs when emergent ray and extension of incident ray aren’t on same path
-The distance between the points of the rays at the 2nd interface=lateral displacement

Normal incidence recap:

-Normal incident rays do not refract even when travelling thru diff.mediums
=>no deviation nor lateral displacement

Non-normal incidence recap:

-Calculating θ:

-Use Sneil’s Law to find θ values at 1st interface

-Use alternate angles to find θ2 as normal lines for all surfaces are vertical
-Use Sneil’s Law to find θ values at 2nd interface

What are parallel flat surfaces?

-

Apparent distance
-Apparent distance calculation for many mediums of diff.n values
Week 3: L8
Learning goals

Prisms
-A piece of transparent material (glass/plastic) composed of 2 angled flat refractive surfaces
-Prisms don’t change in vergence as its surfaces are flat

E.g. 2 such surfaces are AB and BC

-We only care about the surfaces that affect light=>AB+BC only, as light won’t pass thru AC
-Measures+corrects deviation in eyes
-Lenses behave like prisms (can induce if not fitted properly)
Apex
-Edge at which 2 angled refractive surfaces meet

Apical angle
-Angle at which 2 angled refractive surfaces meet

Base
-Side opposite to apical angle (AC) denoted by ‘a’

Optical effects of prisms

-Such effects depend on n value and apical angle (a)
Deviation of rays
-Prisms cause rays to deviate without a change in vergence
Dispersion
-Prisms cause dispersion of polychromatic light (e.g.white light) when entering at certain angles
Reflection
-Prisms can cause TIR
Polarization
-Prisms can polarize light

Normals of prisms

-Externally: ray hits above normal=neg-

-Internally: ray refracts above normal=pos+
-All angles of prism usu.pos+ bc n(prism)>n(surrounding medium)

-They follow such a path: ++++

Path of light when n(prism)<n(medium):

Finding angles of prisms

-Apical angle = supplementary of angle G as both angles are formed by lines that are normal to each
other
- ∠E+∠F+∠G=180°; ∠G+∠a=180°
=>∠a=∠E+∠F
-Delta(1) =angle between extension of incident ray+ray refracted 1st time
-Delta(2) =angle between extension of 1st refracted ray+ray refracted 2nd time

-Finding Delta(1): Delta(1)=θ1-θ’1

-Finding Delta(2): Delta(2)=θ’2-θ2

=> Deviation=θ1-θ’1+θ’2-θ2=θ1-a+θ2=θ1+θ2-a

For n(prism)<n(medium):
-θ’1>θ1 and θ2>θ’2
-Light bends towards normal as it enters surroundings (denser medium)
=>Deviation<0 as final refracted ray and extension of incident ray approach each other

Normal incidence:
-Deviation angle=θ’2-θ2=θ’2-a

Normal emergence

-Total deviation=deviation at 1st surface

-θ’1 is formed by the normals to the 2 surfaces=>θ’1=a
-Total deviation=θ1-θ’1=θ1-a

Ophthalmic prisms
-Thin prisms (apical angle<10 deg)
-Radians used for such small angles
-Paraxial approximation: Angle(radians)~sin(angle)~tan(angle)
-E.g. Angle=4 deg=0.0698 rad~sin(4 deg)=0.0698~tan(4 deg)=0.0699
-Because these values are so close, we can substitute them in some cases
-=>
-Deviation angle~constant for ophthalmic prisms
-Simplified Snell’s Law: for ophthalmic prisms, n⋅θ-n’⋅’θ’ (in radians) instead of n⋅sinθ=n’⋅sinθ’

Special case for normal incidence:

In this case, total deviation formula can be simplified to

Prism power

-Ability of a prism to deviate light

-Is the amount of displacement of light 100cm from surface
-Represented by Δ
-Measured in dioptres (superscript Δ)
Prism dioptre
-The amount of prism power that produces displacement of 1cm 1m away from surface
-Example: A prism will prod.displacement of 2cm 1m from surface
-Example: A prism will prod.displacement of 4cm 2m from surface

Prism power calculations

=>Prism power=100tan(delta)=100tan(delta in radians) by using paraxial approximation

Image formation
-Prisms have no vergence bc surfaces are flat
=>Virtual image=same size as object

-Rays deviate towards base->eyes extend back rays=>virtual image formed

-Image is higher than actual rays if n(prism)>n(surroundings)
-Called an ‘image jump’ towards apex
-Emergent rays are also divergent bc bending away from normal

Examples of image jumps for n(prism)>n(surroundings):

TIR in prisms
-Only when light travels from higher n(prism) to lower n(surroundings)
-θ2>θc for this to happen
-Such prisms=’reflective prisms’
=> be used in optical systems to change ray direction(e.g. telescopes) or image orientation
-Reflective prisms, unlike mirrors:
-Don’t req.a silver layer
-Easier to maintain
-However, disadv: prod.coloured borders when polychromatic light used

Comparison of flat surfaces (when n(object)>n(surroundings)):

vs.

No change in lateral position: object doesn’t appear higher/lower, just closer

Multiple parallel surfaces

-

Week 4 (L9)
Reflection in plane mirrors

Reflection
-Light bouncing of a mirror
-Can be explained by wave theory+particle theory

-Both waves+particles follow same reflection path

-1st Law of reflection:Incident ray+reflected ray+normal on the same plane (shaded green)

-2nd Law of reflection: Angle of incident ray wit normal=angle of reflected ray wit normal
=>Angle of reflected ray independent of any refractive indexes
=>All wavelengths will reflect in same direction=>mirrors don’t produce dispersion

Specular reflection
-Light reflects off smooth surfaces->prod.recognizable images
-Normal at each point of surface=same direction/angle changes in a consistent pattern
-Image only visible from where rays can enter our eyes

Diffuse reflection
-Light reflects off irregular surface
-As the normal line is measured with respect to the reflective surface, normal lines for diff.rays
are diff
=>Rays have varying incident angles=>varying reflection angles

Light path reversibility

-Applies to reflection too

Reflective surfaces
-AKA mirrors
-Metallic mirrors: Mirrors are usu. thin highly reflective metal surface behind glass layer
-Glass protects from rust
-Dielectric mirrors: Some smooth, non-metal materials can reflect (e.g.glass, plastic, H2O)

Mirror shape
-Optics is concerned with a mirror’s 3D shape
-Not all mirrors are flat (can be curved)
-Mirror shape determines image properties
Ray tracing
-Trace by using rays 2/2+ rays travelling from the same point source
-Use 3 rays to trace to reduce chance of error
-Angle of reflection=angle of incidence with the normal

Image point
-Point at which light converges to a point after passing thru an optical system
-Eyes extend rays backward into mirror to find the point where reflective rays cross
=>Virtual image formed, appears to be within mirror where the reflected rays diverge

Sign convention

Object distance measured from optical system to point source=>right->left=>opposite to light

direction=>neg- value
Image distance measured from optical system to image=>left->right=>same direction as
light=>pos+ value
-However, after reflection, rays travel in opposite direction
-To compensate: we pretend that the refractive index of reflection=neg- (n value can never be
neg-)

We consider n’=-n
n and n’ are the same refractive indexes, but n’ considers reflected rays

Lateral magnification
-AKA linear or transverse magnification
-Lateral magnification=ratio between object’s+image’s reduced vergence
-Reduced vergence: =n value/vergence
-Proof that magnification for mirrors=1
-Bc magnification=1, image size=object size

-Bc ratio of object+image height=+1, they have the same orientation (upright)

Reversing images
-Mirrors don’t reverse images
-Mirrors only represent the south-north directions (front/back of image)

E.g.
-We see the front of the person thru the mirror->in the image, the north side appears on the
south side
=>north-south reversal

Plane mirrors
-Can be used for eye tests where not enough space in a room
-Chart placed in front of plane mirror, letters printed in reverse bc north-south reversal
-Mirror makes image appear further away (double the actual distance) bc virtual image created
in mirror

Week 4 (L10 Part I)

Learning goals:
Curved mirrors
-Surface is curved (e.g.concave/convex)=>have vergence
-Example of curved mirror=car mirrors
-Car mirrors=convex mirror=>prod.smaller image=>seems further away than it actually is

Optical axis: line passing thru centre of curvature

Vertex/pole: Midpoint of mirror surface (A) intersecting wit optical axis
Centre of curvature: Centre of curved mirror ©
Radius of curvature:
● r=distance AC
● Always measured from vertex->center (to consider signs)
● If AC is right->left => opposite to light direction => neg- radius

Spherical mirror
-Has 1 focal point (point at which reflected converging rays intersect)

Focal point
-Point at which collimated rays (parallel=>0 vergence) form an image after reflecting off a
curved surface
-Focal length=’f’=distance from V to F
-For concave: the real point where collimated rays intersects after reflecting (becomes
convergent rays)
-For convex: the virtual point that eyes trace the collimated rays to after they reflect (becomes
divergent rays)
-Image point corresponding to focal point can be called an on-axis point located at infinity

Focal plane

-Focal plane: axis perpendicular to principal axis

-Image formed at focal plane will be located at infinity
-Image formed at infinity will be located on focal plane

Concave mirrors
-Reflection occurs at mirror’s inner surface
-Normal line connects reflective surface to curvature centre

-Collimated rays at infinite distance hit reflective surface

-Rays reflect->converge+intersect at O’=>forms an image here
=>Concave mirrors=converging mirrors
-Bc reflected rays converge->more pos+ vergence induced
Radius<0
-Focal point (F)
● Point O’=point where reflected converging rays intersect
● Concave mirrors’ focal point is ‘real’ bc is in front of mirror
● Concave mirrors’ focal point always halfway between curvature centre and vertex
● Light reversibility: If place point source at F->rays will reflect parallel to optical axis
● =>After reflection, rays become more pos+ vergence=> closer to zero vergence
● Focal length (f)<0
● f measured V->C=>opposite to light direction=>neg- f

Convex mirrors
-Reflection occurs at mirror’s outer surface
=>Convex mirrors=divergent mirrors=>more neg- vergence induced
-Bc reflected rays are divergent, eyes trace back rays=>virtual image produced

Radius>0
Focal point (F):
● Formed halfway between V and C
● =>Virtual image prod.at O’
● Focal length (f)>0
● f measured from V->C => same wit light direction=>pos+ f
-Light reversibility:
● If virtual point source is placed at F, rays will reflect parallel to optical axis
● =>After reflection, rays become more neg- vergence=>closer to zero vergence

Power or mirrors
=Ability of mirror to change light’s vergence using reflection
-Mirrors can change vergence more/less depending on curvature
=>Power of mirror is proportional to curvature
-Power of curved surface is inversely proportional to radius of curvature
If we pretend n’=-n, we get F= Through this formula, we can see F and r will have
opposite signs always

Mirror power formula

-Through this formula, we see that F and f will always have opposite signs
-The higher the F is, the higher the mirror power is
-The higher the mirror power is, the shorter the focal length becomes
-Concave mirrors: F>0
-Convex mirrors: F<0

=>Mirror power can be calc.using focal length or radius of curvature

Let F=F: =>

r and f are always in metres

Concave vs convex summary

Week 4 (L10 Part II)

Learning goals
Conjugate points
-O=object point, at distance l
-O’=image point, at distance l’
-These points are conjugate to each other/are conjugate pairs

Light path reversibility

-If point source placed at O’, rays will reflect to meet at O

Image characteristics of curved mirrors

-Depends on position of object, properties of mirror
-Characteristics can be determined graphically+analytically

Graphical method: 1st construction ray

Rays incident on the mirror parallel to the optical axis will go through the image focal point after
reflection (this applies for both real and virtual image points)

Convex mirror: 1st ray

-Concave mirror=>mirror power=+
-Extended object=OA
-Rays parallel to optical axis reflect and pass through F

Convex mirror: 1st ray

-Convex mirror=>mirror power=neg-
-Extended object=OA
-Rays on a trajectory towards F reflect parallel to optical axis

Construction rays
1st ray: Rays parallel to each other pass thru F after reflection
2nd ray: Rays aimed at F reflect parallel to each other
3rd ray: Nodal rays - perpendicular to curved mirror at point of incidence
4th ray: Vertex ray - reflects exactly thru path of incidence
-Construction rays used to find image’s location

Nodal rays
-Rays that hit curved mirror surface parallel to the normal (perpendicular to surface)
-Nodal rays pass thru centre of curvature
-Nodal rays reflect thru the exact same path they hit the surface
Vertex ray
-Ray that hits curved mirror surface at vertex reflects back symmetrically

E.g.

Ray tracing
Ray tracing of concave mirror

Ray tracing of convex mirror

Focal planes for curved mirrors

Concave mirrors:
-Rays travelling from any off-axis points of the focal plane which reflect parallel to each other
-Any randomly angled ray going thru the focal plane+passing through point A will reflect parallel
to these rays
A is an off-axis point on the focal plane (A has the horizontal displacement of the focal point, but
a diff.vertical displacement)
-Rays hitting the concave mirror parallel to the other rays will pass thru A
-A is real=>image is real

Convex mirrors:

-Point A is virtual (inside mirror)=>image is virtual

-All these construction rays point to A, but never reach A
-All these rays pointing to A reflect parallel to each other
-Any randomly angled ray pointing at A will reflect parallel to these rays

Fundamental paraxial equation for mirrors in air

-> as n(air)=1

Magnification for curved mirrors

 as n’=-n in reflection

Mirror power
-As curvature increases, mirror power increases

-As mirror power increases, C and F become closer to mirror surface

-Higher power mirrors form image closer to mirror

Image nature in concave mirrors

-Rays coming from F reflect parallel=>0 vergence
-Construction rays increase in vergence after reflecting thru F=>become convergent
=>Positive image vergence=>Image is real
-Mirror has pos+ mirror power=>counteracts neg- vergence of reflected rays

-When object is closer to mirror than F, rays reflect divergent=>image is virtual as eyes extend
back rays=>image vergence=neg- (pos+ mirror power isn’t enough to counteract this)

-Construction rays form image between C and F

-This image is real, inverted, and smaller than the actual object

Image nature in convex mirrors

-Reflected rays=divergent=>image always virtual

Marginal rays
-Rays with incidence angles>10 deg
-They hit the mirror outside of its paraxial zone (instead, at mirror’s edges/margins)
=>Their angle of incidence=angle of reflection
-These rays don’t cross at F
-They don’t all intersect at same point, but may intersect at many diff points (spherical
abberation)

-θ(reflected marginal ray)>θ(reflected parax.ray)

=>Reflected marginal rays cross optical axis closer to surface than parax.rays

-θ(reflected marginal rays)>θ(reflected parax.rays)

=>Eyes extend back reflected marginal rays so that they appear closer to vertex than reflected
parax.rays

Caustic curve
-No specific image pt, but a spread of light (indicator of spherical abberation)
-Spherical aberration avoidable if use curved mirror with small aperture, or parabolic mirror
(peripheral flattening alters θ(incident rays) so that reflect to cross F)
Week 5 (L11+L12)
Learning goals

Curved surfaces
-A curved surface that separates 2 diff.mediums
-We are concerned about spherical surfaces in optics
-Inside sphere=concave surface, outside sphere=convex surface
 S1, S2 is convex to the lower refrac.medium

Concave surfaces
-If surface is concave to lower refrac.medium=>surface=divergent interface/surface
-n(sphere)>n(surroundings)
-Bc ray travels towards higher n=>ray bends towards normal

Convex surfaces
-If surface is convex to lower refrac.medum=>surface=convergent interface/surface

Convergent surfaces
-Are all convex to lower refrac.medium
-Focal point=real

-Light travels air->plastic

-Travels to higher n=>bends towards normal=>converges

-Light travels to lower n=>bends away from normal=>converges

Divergent surfaces
-Concave to lower refrac.medium

-Travels to lower refrac.index=>bends away from normal=>divergent

-Travels to higher refrac index=>bends towards normal=>divergent
-Focal point=virtual image

Sign convention for curved surfaces

-Radius measured from vertex to centre of curvature

=>r1>0, r2<0

Refraction on curved surfaces can be calc.using Snell’s Law

Paraxial rays
-Rays that make a small angle (10 deg or less)with optical axis=>vergence=very small
Paraxial rays converge to same image point

Refractive power
-Ability to change vergence thru refraction

-Formula:
-Measured in diopters
-Neg- refrac.power=convergent
-Pos+ refrac.power=divergent
=>Power increases as diff between n values increase
=>Rays converge at a greater angle when power increases=>radius becomes smaller
-Making radius smaller makes power greater

-Example q: verifying that concave side faces lower refrac.medium

r=pos+ as is in same direction as light=>n’-n must be neg- as power must be neg=
=>n>n’

Vergence and image formation of curved surfaces

Vergence equation: Image reduced vergence=object reduced vergence+refrac.power

-This equation can be rearranged->Fundamental paraxial equation:

Conjugate points
-Image point+object of curved mirrors are interchangeable
-If image point+object point position are swapped, the same path will still be prod.

Linear magnification of curved surfaces

-Image distance≠object distance

Magnification=object reduced vergence/image reduced vergence:

Focal point/length in curved surfaces
-Focal point/length follows same rules as curved surfaces as shown in L10

Image focal point:

● 2nd/secondary focal point
● Parallel rays intersect in image space
● F’=power, f’=focal length
● As focal length decreases, power increases
Object focal point:
● 1st/primary focal point
● Rays become parallel after passing focal point and refracting
● F=power, f=focal length
● As focal length decreases, power decreases

If we equate F=F: =>ratio of focal lengths=ratio of refrac.indexes

Clarify video 1.23

Clarify video 1.24+1.25 ray tracing

Marginal rays
-Rays wit incident angle>10 deg
-Follows Snell’s Law, but not Parax.approx
-In spherical refractive surfaces, the more marginal rays are, the further it’s intersection point is
from the paraxial intersection point
-Marginal rays cause light to spread (caustic curve)

Spherical aberration
-In spherical refrac.surfaces, marginal rays refract diff.to parax.rays

W7 (L16)
Thin lenses (I)

Learning goals:

Spherical lens

Lens
-Formed by 2 curved refractive surfaces (surfaces are front+back surfaces, respectively)
-d=distance/thickness (lens) ; diff to n of curved surfaces
-R1=radius of surface 1 (front), R2=radius of surface 2 (back)
Refractive power (recap):
-Power of lens to change light’s vergence using refrac.

Is affected by:

-Refrac.power of surface 1

-Refrac.power of surface 2

Rectilinear propagation
-As light moves thru a medium, reduced vergence changes progressively
-Thickness (distance) of lens+n(lens) induces change in reduced vergence

Thin lens
(d is significantly smaller than radiuses)
=>No change in reduced vergence
=>Is a thin lens
Refractive power of thin lens
Total refrac. power of thin lens: ~ F1+F2 (as change
reduced vergence ~ 0)
-F1=refrac.power of front surface, F2=refrac.power of back surface

-F1 and F2 can be calculated by (n’=medium behind surface of interest, n=medium

in front of surface of interest)

-Formulas for F1, F2 can be simplified: F1-> , F2->

-F(lens) formula rearranged to become Lens maker’s equation

Thin positive lens

-Thin pos+ lens=convergent lens=>makes light converge
-Lens can have pos+ refrac.power depending on radii length

-Thin pos+ lens represented by double-headed, vertical arrow

-Corrects long-sightedness (can’t see close clearly)

Thin positive lens forms:

-Whether/not the lens form is concave/convex depends on surface/s facing surrounding medium
-All pos+ lens are thickest in the center/middle
-Pos+ lens can have diff.forms (shapes) based on combo of radiuses of surface 1, surface 2

Equi-convex:
● Both surfaces convex
● Both surfaces’ radii of curvature=same, but surface 1=pos+ radius (bc centre of
curvature is to the surface’s right)
Plano-convex:
● Surface 1=flat=>infinite radius of curvature
● Convex back surface=pos+ radius
Bi-convex:
● Both surfaces convex
● Diff absolute values for radiuses (diff.magnitudes)
Converging meniscus:
● Convex 1st surface, concave 2nd surface
● Both surfaces have pos+ radii as centre of curvature is to the right of surfaces

Thin negative lens

-Thin neg- lens=divergent lens=>makes light more divergent

used to represent thin neg- lens

-Thin neg- lens prod.virtual, upright, minified images of real objects
-Corrects short-sightedness (can’t see far clearly)

Thin negative lens forms

-All neg- thin lens are thinnest at centre/middle

Equi-concave:
● Both surfaces concave
● Radii have same absolute value, diff signs (surface 2 radius=pos+)
Plano-concave:
● Concave surface 1=>neg- radius, flat surface 2=>infinite radius
Bi-concave:
● Both surfaces concave
● But, diff absolute values for radii (diff.magnitude)
Diverging meniscus:
● Surface 1=convex, surface 2=concave
● Both have pos+ radii, but surface 2=more curved=>smaller radius

Sign of lens’ refractive power

-When sign of F1 and F2 same, sign of F(lens)=same
-When sign of F1 and F2 diff, sign of F(lens)=sign of surface with higher refrac.power=more
curved surface (smaller radius)

-Quick rules to remember:

Neg- meniscus:
● R1>R2=>F1 is flatter as R1 is longer=>lens becomes thicker towards periphery
Pos+ meniscus:
R2>R1=>F2 is flatter as R2 is longer=>lens becomes narrower towards periphery

W7 (L17)
Thin lenses (II)

Thin lenses - further notes

-We work with the focal point of the overall lens, not the indiv.surfaces

-Thin lens are so thin that they can be aprox.represented with a vertical line
Focal point of thin lens
-Object focal point (F) where rays intersect (in object space) such that refrac.rays are parallel to
each other
-Image focal point (F’) found where rays intersect after refracting=>image formed at F’
-Lens’ focal object length (f) has the same magnitude as it’s image focal length (f’)

Focal point of convergent thin lens

Image point:

-F’ is a conjugate to an on axis object at infinity

-Image focal length (f’)=same sign as lens’ sign
=>d’=real, pos+ (as converge.lens=pos+)

Object point:
-Conjugate to an on-axis image at infinity
-Object focal length (f) opposite sign to lens’ sign
=>f’=neg-

Focal point of divergent thin lens

Image point:

-Image point (F’) seems to be an on-axis point where refrac.rays appear to diverge from
=>F’ is a conjugate to an on-axis virtual object at infinity
-=>F=virtual as eyes trace back refrac.rays to form F’
-f’=neg- as divergent thin lens=neg- refrac.power

Object point:
-Object point (F)=point where incident rays point to ; is behind lens
-Incident rays refract=>become parallel to optical axis
=>F=conjugate for object at optical infinity
-Object focal length (f)=pos+ => F=virtual

le

Focal length equations for thin lens

=>

Off-axis points for thin lens

-Off-axis parallel rays refract+converge to same off-axis image point on the image focal plane
-Rays passing thru same point on object focal plane refract->become parallel to each other

Nodal point
-Is the lens’ optical centre (point where ray incident to an optical element crosses optical axis)
-OC=optical centre
-Imaginary point on optical axis such that rays incident thru this point don’t deviate
-Position of nodal point depends on lens form
-(For thin lens) OC considered to be at intersection of lens (arrow) wit optical axis

Vergence of thin lens

-In the case of thin lens, F=refrac.power of thin lens

Light reversibility of thin lens

-Thin lens have light path reversibility
=>Incident+refrac.rays still travel same path when object+image points swapped

Linear magnification of thin lens

-Same formula still used:

- only used when n=n’

Ray tracing for convergent thin lens

-All rays must come from A (off-axis point of extended object OA)
-Trace a ray parallel to optical axis
-Trace a ray passing thru F
-Trace a nodal ray (passes thru nodal point=OC)
-Image will be at A’ (an off-axis point, vertically aligned wit O’)
=>Is an extended image (O’A’)

Ray tracing for divergent thin lens

-Trace a ray parallel to optical axis

-Trace a ray thru F
-Trace nodal ray
-Image formed at A’=>extended image at O’A'
Positive (convergent) lens
-Eyes of someone wearing pos+ lens appear bigger (we see a virtual image formed by the lens)

W7 (L18)
Thin lenses (III)

Learning goals:

Vergence recap
-Vergence changes as light propogates (bc light diverges from a source or converges in order to
form an image pt)
-Location where vergence is measured from (object, image) must be given to give correct signs

-Image vergence at A=FA=lens power of A

-Image vergence measured optical system->image pt, measured in m

Refractive/Nominal power of lens

-Power of lens measured @lens plane (at lens’ position)

Example: contact lens placed on eyes=>eyes=on lens plane=>power of lens at eyes=nominal

power of lens

Effective power/lens effectivity

-Change in vergence that a lens induces at any space other than the lens plane
-F=1/f’

reference plane=plane for which effective power is calculated

-Must give reference point for effectivity. E.g. effectivity of 1st lens at point B

Example: spectacle lens worn at distance from eyes

Effective power=vergence at x (eye’s plane)
d=vertex distance=distance lens->eye’s plane
Effective power:
-Moving the position of the lens will change its effective power+nominal power
-Convergent lens: effective power increases as distance to lens increases
-Divergent lens: effective power decreases as distance to lens increases

=>Different lens power req.for spectacles vs contact lens, bc nominal power ≠ effective power

Regardless of nominal or effective power, focal point must remain same

Regulating effective power

Spectacle lens: Incorrect contact lens:

Correct contact lens:

-To ensure correct contact lens power, focal length (f’) must be equal to x

Up to 2nd last vid

Sign convention
-Move lens right => d>0 (move lens towards eyes => spectacles->contact lens)
-Move lens left => d<0 (move lens from eyes => contact lens->spectacles)
-Sign of F and d must be used in equation

W8 (L18*+L19)
Thin lenses
Learning goals:

Optical system of the eye

-Composed of 2 pos+ lens:
● Cornea: converging meniscus
● Crystalline lens: biconvex lens

Change in vergence induced by lens

-Is diff.between original vergence and

-Change in vergence induced by lens at lens plane=lens’ refractive/nominal power

Thin lens system

-2 or more thin lens 1 after the other, separated by distance ‘d’

Vertices+focal points of thin lens systems

-A1=front vertex=vertex of front lens

-A2=back vertex=vertex of back lens
-F = object focal point=point where rays incident thru this point will exit system parallel to optical
axis
-F’ = image focal point=point where parallel incident rays converge after refracting thru entire
thin lens system

- =front vertex focal length=length from vertex 1 to object focal point

- =back vertex focal length=length from vertex 2 to image focal point

Object focal point=point where if rays diverge from here->will exit parallel after pass thru lens
Image focal point=parallel rays will focus at this point after pass thru lens

Sign convention for thin lens system

-Height above optical axis= +
-Below optical axis= -
-Angles measured anti-clockwise from optical axis= -
-Angles measured clockwise from optical axis= +
-Object+image distances measured from lens system’s vertex

Two thin lenses in contact

-For this, d=0
-The simplest case of thin lens system: power of each lens adds up to total lens power
=>F=F1+F2
Image focal length: f’=1/F
-Refrac.power of system=change in vergence induced by the combo of lens in lens system
-Rwr of lens 1=Vergence reaching lens 2 (F1=L’1=L2)
-Vergence reaching 2nd lens=refrac.power of 1st lens or vergence(2nd lens) as lenses are in
contact (d=0)
=>Image vergence(1st lens)=object vergence(2nd lens)

- ->
(Final image vergence(2nd lens)=object vergence(2nd lens)+refrac.power(2nd lens))
Final image vergence=refrac.pwr(1st lens)+refrac.pwr(2nd lens)=total refrac.pwr

Multiple lenses in contact

-Assume we are working wit 3 thin lenses in contact (a, b, c)
-Final image focal length: f’=1/F (f’ is final focal imag length=>f’=f’(a)+f’(b)+f’(c))
Total lens power: F=F(a)+F(b)+F(c)
Separated lens
-Vergence increases depending as d increases (only if lens 2 moves more right)

-Vergence reaching lens 2 (L2)=effectivity of lens 1

Back vertex power

Total back vertex power=effectivity reaching lens 2 + total power of lens 2

Front vertex power

Total front vertex power=effectivity reaching lens 1 from lens +

total power of lens 1
Effectivity of 1st lens=vergence reaching lens 2 from lens 1

FVP and BVP only applicable when light enters/exits system parallel

Step along method

-Can work directly wit vergences instead of using distances
Magnification in simple thin lenses systems
L=object vergence, L’=image vergence

-E.g.

Summary of W8: (L18*+L19)

W8: L20
Learning goals

Lens system recap

-Light goes thru lens 1=>forms image O’1
–Image O’1=object for lens 2
-Lens 2 forms O’2 (image of O’1)

Step along method recap

-Apply fundamental paraxial/vergence equation for each lens, sequentially; equations:

-Used to calc.final image characteristics

3 steps:
1.Calculate position of O’1 (image of 1st object O)
2.Calculate object (O’1) distance to 2nd lens
3.Calculate position of O’2 (image of 2nd object O’1)
O’2 also=image prod.by whole lens

Example question
Effective power recap
-Vergence prod.by lens for 0 object vergence=pwr of lens (not on lens plane)

Magnification of thin lens

-Whole system’s magnification=product of magnification of each lens
-Total mag.can be calc.from final image L and initial object L

W9 (L21)
Learning goals
Ophthalmic lenses
-Thick lenses used to correct refrac.errors
-Front+back surfaces determine thickness of lens

Spherical single vision lenses

-Corrects spherical refrac.errors
-Optical suppliers only prepare base curve of lens in particular refrac.index
-Thickness of back part of lens is generated after patient’s eyes measured
-Front surface always convex, back surface always concave

Base curve: curve of front surface; is always curve of front surface in spherical lens (bc
ophthalmic lenses always=meniscus)

Sagitta
-Surface depth or surface curvature
-For same cord, if r’<r, s’>s=>shorter radius=longer sag->longer sag=more curved

Accurate Sagitta formula:

Can be rearranged to find radius:

If sag much shorter than r, approximate sag formula can be used:

Lens clock
-Measures surface curvature

-2 outer legs measure points D and E=>finds chord

-Center leg moves in/out, touches E (top of sag)
=>Can find sag by distance D leg or F leg minus distance E leg
-Lens clock measures sag=>finds r=>can find surface pwr (F(surface)=(n’-n)/r)
Convex: sag is inwards, concave: sag is outwards

Conversion factor for lens clocks

-When lens’ refrac.index≠1.530, use this formula to find conversion factor for ‘new material’
surface pwr:

Rearranged form of: r=r=>

Derived from:

Example:

=>

Meniscus
-Most ophthalmic lenses are meniscuses

Thickness of ophthalmic lenses

-Calc.by:
-Applicable for both pos+ + neg- meniscus lenses

Stock plus lenses

-

-Reducing diameter of stock + lenses doesn’t change max thickness, but changes edge
thickness

-If lenses are manufactured to a smaller diameter, max thickness reduced, but edge doesn’t
thickness changes

as n’ increases,

Minus: as n’ increases, edge (max) thickness inrceases

Positive: as n’ increases, central (max) thickness decreases

Max thickness of lenses can also be reduced by flattening base curve

E.g.
Must also change back surface’s pwr accordingly to keep Flens the same

Plate height

-Overall bulge of a lens

-More flattened lens preferred bc fits more securely in frame (enahnces frame retention), is
cosmetically more attractive

Back vertex power

F’v=1/f’v, is the most important pwr in ophthalmic lenses

-Back vertex pwr=nominal pwr for an ophthalmic lenses

Example:
Effective power

-For pos+ lens: focal length increases as distance of lens to eyes increases=>F decreases
-Move lens further from eye without changing lens power=>effective pwr at eye’s plane will
increase
=>Can correct long-sightedness by moving lens away
-For neg- thin lens: the image focal point is in the object space=>as lens’ distance to eye
increases=>focal length decreases=>F increases
-Move lens further from eye while keeping lens pwr same=>effective power decreases
=>Can correct short-sightedness by moving lens closer to eyes

Bringing neg- lens closer to eyes increases vergence (as distance becomes less neg-)
Pusing pos+ lens away increases vergence=> increases lens’ effective pwr

W9 (L22)
Thick lenses
Learning goals:

Thick lenses
-Are ophthalmic lenses
d>0

Power of thick lens:

Must consider n(lens) when doing calculations

Reduced thickness for thick lens

Reduced thickness contributes to thick lens’ pwr:

This is the same idea as reduced distance

(l’=apparent depth, l=object depth)

-We view thick lenses like this, thickness represented horizontally

-Front surface is the image created by back surface
=>Image prod.by thick lens is thicker than actual object
-Same lens effect (angle of rays hitting eyes) can be maintained when changing n to air
-But front and back surface must be both changed to thin lens otherwise lens material wouldn’t
be considered air

-Thick lenses are 2 thin lenses separated by d

-Lens 2 can be moved until vergence reaching 2nd lens after traveling thru air is the same as
vergence of light reaching back surface of thick lens after travelling thru refrac.index of lens
New distance between lens=reduced or equivalent thickness (d dash)

Equivalent systems

-For calc.sake, thick lens can be represented by thin lens system wit reduced distance (d dash)
-d dash=actual distance/n(lens) => it can be assumed n=1 => lens system is easier to work wit
Front vertex power of thick lenses

-front focal length:

Back vertex power of thick lenses

-back focal length:

Back focal pwr recap

-BVP is the pwr specified in prescriptions

Front focal pwr

-Front focal pwr can be calc.by turning around thick lens (F1->F2, F2->F1), drawing parallel rays
incident to new F1 then apply BVP formula
-Object focal pt and image focal pt are conjugate points (light reversibility)

Total focal pwr recap

-Whether we say front focal pwr or back focal pwr, we r referring to total focal pwr
-We work with total focal pwr in optom (calc.by BVP formula)

Step-along method for thick lens

- O’1=O2, O’1 or O2 is an intermediate image

1.Find position of O’1 (image of O)

2.Find object distance of O’1 to back surface
3.Find position of O’2
*4.Find magnification (mag=Y(final)/Y1= )
-Note L’1≠L2 as n(lens) causes vergence change

m2=L2/L’2
M2 gives characteristics for O’2, O’2 is the back lens’ image, but also the image prod.by whole
lens system (1.26)

Finding focal points in thick lenses

-Simply thick lens into thin lens system
-Use F=n’/l’ = -n/l to find pwr -> use f=-n/F or f’=n’/F to find object or image focal lengths for both
surfaces
-Can find l or l’ by using L’=L+F

Step-along method using vergences directly

W10: L24+L25
Gauss/Equivalent Thin Lens System
Learning goals

Thick lenses in optometry

-We have to work wit manythick lenses in optom (cornea+eye’s lens+corrective lens=6
surfaces)
=>Using step-along can be tedious

Gauss/ equivalent thin lens system

-Simplifies calc.for series of lenses bc n(lens) becomes 1

Can apply Gauss system if…

-System is rotationally symmetrical (lens surfaces spherical, curvature centre on optical axis)
=>Can apply to all thin+thick lenses

Cardinal points
-Used to calc.Gauss/equivalent thin lens system’s characteristics
For equivalent thin lens:

-Everything is equivalent when using Gauss

=>Equivalent pwr, equivalent image focal length

Same equation for pwr used for equivalent pwr

-Can extend rays to predict

To find position of equivalent thin lens:

-Can extend rays to predict position

E.g.

Power and focal lengths in Gauss System

-Pwr the same for object and focal points

=>f’E=-fE if n’=n
Object principal plane
-A plane (imaginary line perpendicular to optical axis) relating to the object space of a Gauss
system
-H=intersection of object principal plane wit optical axis

Image Principal plane

-A plane relating to the image space of a Gauss system
-H’=intersection of image principal plane wit optical axis

H and H’ have similar function to vertices of lens

-F and F’ are 1st of 3 pairs of cardinal pts in Gauss system
-Principal pts (H and H’) are 2nd pair of cardinal pts
-These cardinal pts allow construct.rays to be traced
-Equivalent focal length measured principal pt->focal pt (H->F, H’->F’)

Principal planes
-Object princ.plane+image princ.plane=conjugate planes
=>A conjugate pt on OPP has a corresponding conjugate pt on IPP
-These planes are unit planes (mag=1x)

-y+y’=same height (conjugates of each other)=>after refrac., image height=object height

=>No change to light between H and H’

-Light doesn’t actually ‘travel’ thru H and H’=>use dotted lines between H and H’

Nodal points in Gauss system

-2 nodal pts->3rd pair of cardinal pts
=>Allow construct.ray to be traced
-Position of nodal pts depends on refrac.indexes
Nodal ray points to N (object nodal pt), passes thru P, exits at P’
-Incident nodal ray+refrac.nodal ray=at same angle=>parallel

-If n(object space)=n(image space), H=N and H’=N’

(principal pts coincide wit corresponding nodal pts)

Power of Gauss system

-Equivalent pwr:

Position of principal points

-Distance of vertex->principal pt=’e’
-Measured from vertex->corresponding principal pt

-Sometimes H can be before H’ (H is more left). Irregardless, e must be measured from

corresponding vertex->corresponding principal pt
-Lens form doesn’t change distance between principal planes/pts, but does change position of
planes/pt relative to vertices

-As curvature of pos+ lens increases->position of P and P’ shift left

-Changing curvature=”bending the lens”

As curvature of neg- lens increases->position of P and P’ shift right

Focal points in Gauss system

Note: in divergent thicklens, F and F’ are virtual=>F in image space, F’ in object space
-Focal lengths measured from principal pt->focal pt

fv=front vertex focal length≠object focal length

fv’=back vertex focal length≠image focal length

Determining position of nodal points

HN=distance H->N, H’N’=distance H’->N’
-We only need 1 of these distances to determine both nodal pts, as the nodal pts are
the same length from the principal pts

-If n’2=n1 => HN and H’N=0 => H coincides wit N, H’ coincides wit N’
-Also, if HN or HN=0, fE=f’E but they have diff signs

Optical centre of Gauss system

-Pt of a thick lens where incident ray appears to pass thru+refrac.ray appears to exit
from
OC=intersection of ray travelling thru lens (refrac.ray) wit optical axis
Note: ray refracts when it enters lens, but the ray exits lens at same angle it enters

-OC isn’t always in lens

-Position of OC depends on lens thickness and n

E.g.

Construction rays for Gauss system

-Ray trace example:

-Actual refrac.rays
-Ray trace when H’ is before H:

=>Incident rays still hit object principle plane first

Light reversibility in Gauss system

Summary of cardinal pts

Recap of pwrs
F1=front surface pwr only
F2=back surface pwr only
FVP=total pwr wit reference to front vertex
BVP=total pwr wit reference to back vertex
Fe=equivalent pwr=pwr when referring to any principal planes/pts