!

Appendix C

Review of Optics

C.1 Geometric Optics

The characteristics of optical components, such as mirrors and lenses, can be
completely derived from the wave properties of light. Such detailed calcu-
lations, however, are usually rather complex because one has to keep track
of the wave front along every point on the optical component. It is possible
to simplify the problem if the optical components are much larger than the
wavelength of light. The simplification entails neglecting some of the wave
properties of light and considering light as a ray traveling perpendicular to the
wave front (Fig. C.1). In a homogeneous medium, the ray of light travels in a
straight line; it alters direction only at the interface between two media. This
simplified approach is called geometric optics.
The speed of light depends on the medium in which it propagates. In
vacuum, light travels at a speed of 3 × 108 m/sec. In a material medium, the
speed of light is always less. The speed of light in a material is characterized
by the index of refraction (n) defined as

c
n" (C.1)
v

where c is the speed of light in vacuum and v is the speed in the material.
When light enters from one medium into another, its direction of propagation
is changed (see Fig. C.2). This phenomenon is called refraction. The rela-
tionship between the angle of incidence (θ1 ) and the angle of refraction (θ2 )

293
294 Appendix C Review of Optics

FIGURE C.1 ! Light rays perpendicular to the wave front.

is given by
sin θ1 n2
! (C.2)
sin θ2 n1
The relationship in Eq. C.2 is called Snell’s law. As shown in Fig. C.2, some
of the light is also reflected. The angle of reflection is always equal to the
angle of incidence.
In Fig. C.2a, the angle of incidence θ1 for the entering light is shown to
be greater than the angle of refraction θ2 . This implies that n2 is greater than
n1 as would be the case for light entering from air into glass, for example
(see Eq. C.2). If, on the other hand, the light originates in the medium of
higher refractive index, as shown in Fig. C.2b, then the angle of incidence
θ1 is smaller than the angle of refraction θ2 . At a specific value of angle θ1
called the critical angle (designated by the symbol θc ), the light emerges tan-
gent to the surface, that is, θ2 ! 90◦ . At this point, sin θ2 ! 1 and, therefore,
sin θ1 ! sin θc ! n2 /n1 . Beyond this angle, that is for θ1 > θc , light orig-
inating in the medium of higher refractive index does not emerge from the
medium. At the interface, all the light is reflected back into the medium. This
phenomenon is called total internal reflection. For glass, n2 is typically 1.5,
and the critical angle at the glass-air interface is sin θc ! 1/1.5 or θc ! 42◦ .
Transparent materials such as glass can be shaped into lenses to alter the
direction of light in a specific way. Lenses fall into two general categories:
converging lenses and diverging lenses. A converging lens alters the direction
of light so that the rays are brought together. A diverging lens has the opposite
effect; it spreads the light rays apart.
Using geometric optics, we can calculate the size and shape of images
formed by optical components, but we cannot predict the inevitable blurring
of images which occurs as a result of the wave nature of light.
Section C.2 Converging Lenses 295

FIGURE C.2 ! (Top) Reflection and refraction of light. (Bottom) Total internal
reflection.

C.2 Converging Lenses

A simple converging lens is shown in Fig. C.3. This type of a lens is called a
convex lens.
Parallel rays of light passing through a convex lens converge at a point
called the principal focus of the lens. The distance of this point from the lens
is called the focal length f. Conversely, light from a point source at the focal
point emerges from the lens as a parallel beam. The focal length of the lens is
296 Appendix C Review of Optics

FIGURE C.3 ! The convex lens illuminated (a) by parallel light, (b) by point source at
the focus.

determined by the index of refraction of the lens material and the curvature of
the lens surfaces. We adopt the following convention in discussing lenses.

1. Light travels from left to right.

2. The radius of curvature is positive if the curved surface encountered by
the light ray is convex; it is negative if the surface is concave.

It can be shown that for a thin lens the focal length is given by

! "
1 1 1
! (n − 1) − (C.3)
f R1 R2

where R1 and R2 are the curvatures of the first and second surfaces, respec-
tively (Fig. C.4). In Fig. C.4, R2 is a negative number.
Focal length is a measure of the converging power of the lens. The shorter
the focal length, the more powerful the lens. The focusing power of a lens is
Section C.2 Converging Lenses 297

FIGURE C.4 ! Radius of curvature defined for a lens.

often expressed in diopters defined as

1
Focusing power ! (diopters) (C.4)
f (meters)
If two thin lenses with focal lengths f1 and f2 , respectively, are placed close
together, the focal length fT of the combination is
1 1 1
! + (C.5)
fT f1 f2
Light from a point source located beyond the focal length of the lens is
converged to a point image on the other side of the lens (Fig. C.5a). This type
of an image is called a real image because it can be seen on a screen placed at
the point of convergence.
If the distance between the source of light and the lens is less than the focal
length, the rays do not converge. They appear to emanate from a point on the
source side of the lens. This apparent point of convergence is called a virtual
image (Fig. C.5b).
For a thin lens, the relationship between the source and the image distances
from the lens is given by
1 1 1
+ ! (C.6)
p q f
Here p and q, respectively, are the source and the image distances from the
lens. By convention, q in this equation is taken as positive if the image is
formed on the side of the lens opposite to the source and negative if the image
is formed on the source side.
Light rays from a source very far from the lens are nearly parallel; there-
fore, by definition we would expect them to be focused at the principal focal
point of the lens. This is confirmed by Eq. C.6, which shows that as p becomes
very large (approaches infinity), q is equal to f.
298 Appendix C Review of Optics

FIGURE C.5 ! Image formation by a convex lens: (a) real image, (b) virtual image.

If the source is displaced a distance x from the axis, the image is formed
at a distance y from the axis such that

y q
! (C.7)
x p

This is illustrated for a real image in Fig. C.6. The relationship between p and
q is still given by Eq. C.6.

C.3 Images of Extended Objects

So far we have discussed only the formation of images from point sources.
The treatment, however, is easily applied to objects of finite size.
When an object is illuminated, light rays emanate from every point on the
object (Fig. C.7a). Each point on the object plane a distance p from the lens
Section C.3 Images of Extended Objects 299

FIGURE C.6 ! Image formation off axis.

FIGURE C.7 ! Image of an object: (a) real, (b) virtual.

is imaged at the corresponding point on the image plane a distance q from the
lens. The relationship between the object and the image distances is given by
Eq. C.6. As shown in Fig. C.7, real images are inverted and virtual images are
upright. The ratio of image to object height is given by

Image height q
! − (C.8)
Object height p
300 Appendix C Review of Optics

FIGURE C.8 ! A diverging lens.

C.4 Diverging Lenses

An example of a diverging lens is the concave lens shown in Fig. C.8. Parallel
light diverges after passing through a concave lens. The apparent source of
origin for the diverging rays is the focal point of the concave lens. All the
equations we have presented for the converging lens apply in this case also,
provided the sign conventions are obeyed. From Eq. C.3, it follows that the
focal length for a diverging lens is always negative and the lens produces only
virtual images (Fig. C.8).

C.5 Lens Immersed in a Material Medium

The lens equations that we have presented so far apply in the case when the
lens is surrounded by air that has a refraction index of approximately 1. Let
us now consider the more general situation shown in Fig. C.9, which we will
need in our discussion of the eye. The lens here is embedded in a medium that
has a different index of refraction (n1 and n2 ) on each side of the lens. It can
be shown (see [15-3]) that under these conditions the relationship between the
object and the image distances is

n1 n2 nL − n1 nL − n2
+ ! − (C.9)
p q R1 R2
Section C.5 Lens Immersed in a Material Medium 301

FIGURE C.9 ! Lens immersed in a material medium.

Here nL is the refraction index of the lens material. The effective focal
length in this case is

1 n2 − n1 nL − n2
! − (C.10)
f R1 R2

Note that in air n1 ! n2 ! 1 and Eq. C.10 reduces to Eq. C.3.

The lens equations we have presented in this appendix assume that the
lenses are thin. This is not a fully valid assumption for the lenses in the eye.
Nevertheless these equations are adequate for our purposes.