Page, Lafitte, Gildersleeve 1

Arthur Page
Nathan Gildersleeve
Jorge Lafitte
Mr. Hill
Period 6, Physics
May 16, 2015
Real Image Lab
Purpose
To demonstrate and observe how light reflects an image off of a mirror and passes it
through a lense.
Materials
Ruler and supports
Wax paper on cardboard/ whiteboard
tape
candle
lighter
lense
mirror
tracks/stands
Procedure
1. First set up the ruler on the two tracks.
2. Place the candle stand on the ruler and secure the candle to the stand with tape.
3. Place the lens in the desired position between the candle and the was paper/
whiteboard.
4. Move and adjust the wax paper/ whiteboard until the picture is at its clearest.
5. Take measurements of the distance of the candle, lense, and the image.
6. Calculate the distance between the candle and the lense/mirror and the distance
between the lense/mirror and the image.

Data
Lense Trials

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Candle

Lense

Image

Distance
Distance
between lense between
and image
candle and
lense

Focal length
(cm)

30 cm

50 cm

57 cm

7 cm

20 cm

5.1852

30 cm

73 cm

61 cm

12 cm

43 cm

9.38

30 cm

60 cm

56.5 cm

3.5 cm

30 cm

3.134

Candle

Mirror

Image

Distance
between
Mirror and
Image

Distance
between
Candle and
mirror

Focal length
(cm)

30 cm

50 cm

7 cm

43 cm

20 cm

13.65

30 cm

55 cm

24 cm

31 cm

25 cm

13.839

30 cm

60 cm

35.5 cm

24.5 cm

30 cm

13.49

Mirror Trials

Calculations/ Analysis
a. Find the reciprocal of the object distance, p.
b. Find the reciprocal of the image distance, q.
c. Add the reciprocals found in (a) and (b).
d. Find the inverse of your answer in (c).
Lenses
1/p + 1/q = 1/20 + 1/7 = .1429
1/.1429 = 5.1852 cm focal length
1/p + 1/q = 1/43 + 1/12 = .106589
1/.106589 = 9.38 cm focal length
1/p + 1/q = 1/30 + 1/(3.5) = 0.319
1/0.319 = 3.134 cm focal length
Average focal length:
Mirror

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1/p + 1/q = 1/20 + 1/43 = 0.0733
1/0.0733 = 13.65 cm focal length
1/p + 1/q = 1/25 + 1/31 = 0.07226
1/0.07226 = 13.839 cm focal length
1/p + 1/q = 1/30 + 1/24.5 = 0.07415
1/0.07415 = 13.49 cm focal length

Discussion
Through the data, a trend begins to show between the reciprocal and the focal length.
While not obvious at first as the reciprocal goes down the focal length goes up. This is shown
throughout the trials both reflective surfaces. As the reciprocal changed from .0733 to .07226,
even slightly, it moved the focal length from 13.65 cm to 13.839 cm. This shows how even a
slight change in either affects the other and changes the way in which image gets reflected.
Conclusion
The inverse of the sum of the reciprocal of each trial when compared to the focal length
of the lens showed that no matter what the sum was, the trial always had a similar focal length
compared to other trials.