LECTURE 16

THIN LENSES – RAY TRACING

18.4 Image formation by refraction You can use the sun’s rays and a
18.5 Thin lenses: ray tracing lens to start a fire.
Converging lenses
Real images
Magnification
Virtual images
Diverging lenses
Quiz: 18.4-1
! Suppose that you are inserting a ruler in an aquarium filled with
water.
! The distance to the ruler in water appears to be
A. Less than the actual distance.
B. Equal to the actual distance.
C. More than the actual distance.
Quiz: 18.4-1 answer
! The distance to the ruler in water appears to be less than the actual distance
because of refraction of light at the boundary.
! To your eye, the rays appear to diverge not from the object at point P, but
instead from point P!. Troll life hack
Don’t do it actually….
18.4 Image formation by refraction
! The optical axis is the line through the
object and perpendicular to the
boundary.
! Using Snell’s law and geometry, you can
show that the image distance is given by
$%
!" = !
$&
18.5 Thin lenses: ray tracing
! A lens uses refraction of light rays at curved surfaces to form
an image.
! Ray tracing is a pictorial method used to understand image
formation.
Quiz: 18.5-1
! You can use the sun’s rays and a lens to start a fire. To do so, you
should use
A. a converging lens.
B. a diverging lens.

C. either a converging or a diverging lens will work if you use it correctly.

Quiz: 18.5-1 answer / Demo
! You can use the sun’s rays and a lens to start a fire. To do so, you should use a
converging lens. The energy in the sun’s rays can be focused and
concentrated.
! A converging lens causes the rays to refract toward the optical axis.
! A diverging lens causes the rays to refract away from the axis.
! Demo: diverging and converging lenses
18.5 Thin lenses: ray tracing – focal point and focal length

! The incoming rays parallel to the optical axis

converge at (converging lens) or appear to
diverge from (diverging lens) the focal point
of the lens.
! The focal point on the incident-light side is the
near focal point; the focal point on the other
side is the far focal point.
! The focal length ! of the lens is the distance
of the focal point from the lens.
18.5 Converging lenses
! A thin lens is an idealized lens whose thickness is zero and that lies entirely in a
plane called the lens plane.
! Within the thin-lens approximation, all refraction occurs as the rays cross the lens
plane, and all distances are measured from the lens plane.
! The special rays for a converging lens:
Quiz: 18.5-2
! Which of these ray diagrams is possibly correct for a thin glass lens in
air?
Quiz: 18.5-2 answer
! A lens that is thick in the middle is a converging lens if the lens is made with
a material of a higher index of refraction than that of the surrounding.
! A ray directed at the center of the lens passes through in a straight line.
 Quiz: 18.5-3
12

! A converging lens is used to project the image of an arrow onto a

screen. If the arrow is farther away from the lens than its focal length,
what kind of image is projected on the screen? Choose all that apply.
A. Real
B. Virtual
C. Upright
D. Inverted
E. No image can be projected.
 Quiz: 18.5-3 answer / Demo
13

! Real and inverted

! A real image is formed where rays converge. A real image is always inverted.
! All points on the object plane converge to image points in the image plane.
! When a screen is placed in the image plane, the image is sharp and well-focused.
! Demo: Image formation
 Quiz: 18.5-4
14

! A piece of black tape is now placed over the upper half of the converging lens.
Which of the follow is true?
A. Only the lower half of the object (i.e., the arrow tail) will show on the screen.
B. Only the upper half of the object (i.e., the arrow head) will show on the screen.
C. The whole object will still show on the screen.
 Quiz: 18.5-4 answer / Demo
15

! The whole object will still show on the screen.

! The image will be dimmer because only half of the light now go through the lens.
! A smaller lens “collects” less rays, and therefore makes a dimmer image.
! Demo: Image formation with a half-covered lens
18.5 Magnification
! The magnification ! describes the orientation and size of the image relative
to the object and its size.

$%
!=−
$

&'
! ! = is the ratio of image height to object height.
&
! If ! > 0, the image is upright relative to the object.
! If ! < 0, the image is inverted relative to the object.
18.5 Virtual images
! When the object is inside the focal point of a
converging lens, the refracted rays do not
converge.
! Rays appear to diverge from a virtual image.
! Because no rays actually pass through a virtual
image, placing a screen at the image plane
would not produce an image.
! We use a sign convention defining the image
distance !" to be negative for a virtual image.
18.5 Diverging lenses
! The special rays for a diverging lens:
Quiz: 18.5-5
! Light rays are converging to point 1. The lens
is inserted into the rays with its focal point at
point 1. Which picture shows the rays leaving
the lens?
Quiz: 18.5-5
Quiz: 18.5-6
! When a real object is placed just outside the focal point of a
diverging lens, what kind if image is formed? Choose all that
apply.
A. Diminished.
B. Enlarged.
C. Upright.
D. Inverted.
E. Real.
F. Virtual.
Quiz: 18.5-6 answer
! Diminished, Upright, Virtual.
! Draw ray diagram to deduce where the image is formed.
! A diverging lens always create diminished, upright, and virtual images.
Quiz: 18.5-7
! A diverging lens is often made of glass with two concave
surfaces (as shown). If instead the same shape were filled
with air, and it was placed in water which of the following
statements is correct?
A. Nothing acts as a lens inside water.
B. It will act as a diverging lens.
C. It will act as a converging lens.
D. Not enough information given.
Quiz: 18.5-7 answer / Demo
! It will act as a converging lens.
Focus
! We can consider the wave fronts. The
wave front moves faster through the air
in the lens, so the top and bottom move Wavefronts
more than the middle. An air lens in water
! Demo: Air lens in water

A glass lens in air