Optical Biomedical Instrumentation - BMT 336

BMT Department
College of Applied Medical Sciences
King Saud University

Geometrical Optics
(Lenses)
Lecture # 4

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Content:
• Lenses
➢Types of Lenses (Concave & Convex)
➢Focal Length of Lenses
➢Image Formation
➢Lens Equation and Magnification
➢Combination of Lenses
➢Lens Maker Equation
➢Lens Aberration
➢Refractive Power
• Problems

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 Lenses

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 Types of Lenses
• Lenses are commonly used to form images by refraction in optical instruments, such as
cameras, microscopes and telescopes.

• There are two types of lenses:

1. Converging lens (Convex):
• A converging (convex) lens is one, which refracts and converges parallel light to a point of focus
beyond the lens.
• Converging lenses are thicker in the middle than at the edge.
• Since spherical surfaces are easier to make, most lenses are constructed with two spherical
surfaces.
• The line joining the center of the two spheres is known as the Principle Axis of the lens.
Examples of Converging lenses

Dual convex Plano convex Meniscus

convex

The figure adapted and modified from

https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Map%3A_University_Physics_III_-
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-principal-focus-of-a-convex-lens _Optics_and_Modern_Physics_(OpenStax)/02%3A_Geometric_Optics_and_Image_Formation/2.05%3A_Thin_Lenses
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 Types of Lenses
2. Diverging lens (Concave):
• A diverging (concave) lens refracts and diverges parallel light from a point located in front
of the lens.

Examples of Diverging lenses

Meniscus
Dual concave Plano concave concave

The figure adapted and modified from

https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Map%3A_University_Physics_III_-
_Optics_and_Modern_Physics_(OpenStax)/02%3A_Geometric_Optics_and_Image_Formation/2.05%3A_Thin_Lenses

https://sites.google.com/site/svgphysics/topics2012_2013/lens es

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 Focal Length of the Lenses
• Light may pass through a lens in two directions. This results two focal points for each lens.

• Converging lens has real focus (F) and diverging lens has
virtual focus (F/).
• The distance between the optical center of a lens and the
focus on either side of the lens is the focal length “f”. F/
• Focal length of a lens is NOT equal to one-half the radius of
curvature, it depends on the index of refraction “n” of the
material from which it is made.

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 Image Formation
(Converging Lenses)

Image Image Image

Object location
(Location) (Nature) (Size)

Real and
(1) Infinity At F2
Inverted
Diminished

Between 2F2 Real and (1) (2)

(2) Beyond 2F1
and F2 Inverted
Diminished

Real and
(3) At 2 F1 At 2F2
Inverted
Same size

Between 2F1 and Real and

(4) F1
Beyond 2F2
Inverted
Enlarged

(3) (4)
Real and
(5) At F1 At infinity
Inverted
Enlarged

On the same Virtual and

(6) Between F1 and 0
side as object Erect
Enlarged

(5) (6)
BMT 336 https://www.toppr.com/guides/science/light/images-formed-by-lenses/ 7
 Image Formation
(Diverging Lenses)

Image Image Image

Object location
(Location) (Nature) (Size)

Virtual & Highly

(1) Infinity At F1
Erected Diminished

Between F1
Beyond infinity Virtual &
(2) and Zero
and Optical
Erected
Diminished
center

(1) (2)

Images adapted and modified from https://byjus.com/physics/concave-convex-lenses/

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 Image Formation
(Real Image vs Virtual Image)

Real Image Virtual Image

• A real image produced by a lens is formed by • Virtual images are produced with converging
rays of light which actually passed through the lenses when the object is placed between the
lens. focal point and the lens.
• Virtual images are produced with diverging
lenses when the object is in any position.
• A real image is always formed on the opposite • A virtual image will appear to be on the same
side of the object. side of the object.

• Real image can be made visible on a screen. • Virtual image cannot be formed on a screen.
• The rays of light are actually brought to a focus
in the plane of the image.

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 The Lens Equation and Magnification

Where p = object distance, q = image distance and f = focal length of lens

• If the image is on the far side of the lens as the object, the image distance is positive and the image is real.
• If the image and object are on the same side of the lens, the image distance is negative and the image is virtual.
• Object and image dimensions are positive when measured upward from the axis and negative when measured
downward.
• The focal length f is positive for converging lenses (convex) and negative for diverging lenses (concave).
• The magnification “M” of a lens is the ratio of the image size (height) to the object size.
• A negative “M” means inverted image.
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 Combination of Lenses
• When light passes through two or more lenses, the combined action can be determined by considering the
image formed by the first lens as the object for the second lens, and so on.

• In the lens arrangement shown, lens 1 form a real, inverted image “I1” of the object “O”. This image is
considered as a real object by lens 2, and the final image “I2” is real (straight and enlarges).

• The location of the final image can be determined by applying lens equation.

• The total magnification by this system is the product of the magnification produced by each lens.

Applications of the above principle are found for the microscope, the telescope, and other
optical instruments
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 Lens Maker Equation
• Lenses are commonly used to form images by refraction in optical instruments, such as cameras, microscopes
and telescopes.

• The essential idea is locating the final image of a lens, to use the image formed by one refracting surface as
the object for the second surface.

• Consider a lens having an index of refraction “n” and two

spherical surfaces of radii of curvature R1 and R2 as shown.
• An object at point “O” at a distance “S1” in front of the first
refracting surface.
• “S1” is chosen such that virtual image is formed.
• The image (I1) is used as the object for the second surface of
radius R2, and final image is formed at I2.

• The radius of curvature (either R1 or R2) is considered as positive if surface is

curved outward (convex) and as negative if the surface is curved inward
(concave).
• The focal length f of a converging lens is considered positive, and the focal
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length of a diverging lens is considered negative. 12
 Lens Aberration
• Spherical lens often fail to produce perfect images because of defects inherent in their construction.

• Two of the most common defects are:

(1) Spherical aberration
(2) Chromatic aberration
• All aberrations lead to blurring of image formed by an
optical system.
(1) Spherical aberration
• It is the lens defect in which the extreme rays are
brought to focus nearer the lens than rays
entering near the optical center of the lens.
• This defect can be minimized by placing a
diaphragm or aperture in front of the lens.
• The diaphragm blocks off the extreme rays,
producing sharp image along with a reduction in
light intensity.
https://www.vision-doctor.com/en/optical-errors.html
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 Lens Aberration

(2) Chromatic aberration

• Chromatic aberration results because the index of refraction of a
material varies with wavelengths.
• When white light falls upon a lens, the rays of the component
colors are not focused at the same point.
• As shown in the figure, blue light focus nearer the lens than red
light.
• It is the lens defect, which reflects its inability to focus light of
different colors at the same point.
• The polychromatic light from a point images is not at point but a
series of points one for each distinct wavelength.
• This defect can be removed by using Achromatic lens as shown. Achromatic Lens

Image formed in a mirror DO NOT suffer from chromatic aberration since the focal
length of a mirror is independent of wavelengths
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 Lens Aberration
(Limits of Resolution)

• Ability of a lens to produce distinct images of two-point object very close together is called the resolution of
the lens.
• The closer the two images can be and still be seen as distinct (rather than overlapping blobs), the higher the
resolution.
• The resolution of a camera lens, for example, is often specified as so many lines per millimeter.
• The minimum spacing of distinguishable lines gives the resolution (50 lines/mm is reasonable, 100 lines per
mm is very good).
• Two principal factors limit the resolution of a lens:
➢ Lens aberration.
➢ Diffraction.
• Because of spherical and other aberrations, a point object is not a point on the image but a tiny blob, so a
careful design of compound lenses can reduce aberration significantly, but they cannot be eliminated entirely.
• An ideal lens brings all parallel rays of light that strike it together at a single focal point. But real lens blurs the
focal point into a small but finite region of space. This, in turn, blurs the image it forms.
• Many lenses in optical instrument are NOT single lenses at all but, instead, are compound achromatic lenses.
For example, the “lens” in a 35-mm camera may actually contain five or more individual lenses some of them
converging, some diverging, some made of one type of glass, some made of another.

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 Refractive Power

The refractive power of a lens is defined by:

where P is expressed in units of diopter or inverse length

The sign convention is similar to that for f:
Positive for converging lens
Negative for diverging lens.
By making use of the lens maker’s equation we can calculate the refractive power:

where R1 and R2 are the two radii, measured in meters, and n is the refractive index of the glass.

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 Problems

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 Problems
• P # 1 A concave lens has focal length of 10 cm. What is its power (in diopter)?

• P # 2 The power of a lens is +5 D. State whether it is a convex lens or a concave lens and calculate its
focal length.

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 Problems
• P # 3 An object located 12 cm in front of a thin lens has its image formed on the opposite side of the
lens (42 cm from the lens). Calculate (a) the focal length of the lens. (b) the lens power (in diopter).

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 Problems
• P # 4 Two converging lenses are placed 20 cm apart. If the first lens has a focal length of 10 cm and
the second lens has a focal length of 20 cm, locate the final image of an object located 30 cm in front
of the first lens. What is the magnification of the two lenses? (Drawing is required).

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 Problems
• P # 5 An object 2.5 cm high is located 15 cm in front of a lens of +5 cm focal length. A lens with a focal
length of -12cm is placed 2.5 cm beyond this converging lens. Find (a) the position and (b) the size of
the final image.

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 Problems
• P # 6 Draw a complete diagram and show your work to calculate the image formed by converging lens
with f = 2 cm that is imaging an arrow that is located at the following locations:
a) 4 cm to the left of the lens
b) 8 cm to the left of the lens
c) 1 cm to the left of the lens
In each case, please write if the image is real or virtual?

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 Problems
• P # 6 Draw a complete diagram and show your work to calculate the image formed by converging lens
with f = 2 cm that is imaging an arrow that is located at the following locations:
a) 4 cm to the left of the lens
b) 8 cm to the left of the lens
c) 1 cm to the left of the lens
In each case, please write if the image is real or virtual?

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