A Formal Physics Laboratory Report

EXPERIMENT
REPORT LAB 9:
MEASURING FOCAL LENGTHS OF CONVEX AND CONCAVE LENSES

Class: CC19 - Group: 1 Lecturer’s comment

Full name: 
1. Tăng Gia Bảo – 2152429
2. Lê Dương Khánh Huy – 2153380
3. Nguyễn Lê Anh Tuấn - 2153079

I. Aims/Purposes
- Measure the focal length of the convergent lens.
- Examine the image forming through the lens system consisting of a convergent lens
and a divergent len.
- Measure the focal length of divergent lens.

II. Apparatus, Methods, and Procedure

a. Apparatus
- Optical bench 1000mm
- Convergent len O1
- Divergent len O2
- Light source Đ type 6V-8W
- Power source 6V-3A
- AB object shape likes number “1” inside a circle hole of the plastic plate
- Screen M 70x100mm

b. Methods
- When measuring the focal length of a convergent lens, use the Silberman or Bessel
methods.
- Measure the focal length of the diverging lens using the connecting point method.
- Use indirect measurement.
 c.Procedure
Step 1: Measuring the focal length of convergent lens ( f 1) by using 2 methods: the
Silberman method and the Bessel method.

Do the measurement 3 times to achieve focal length f1.

Step 2: Measuring the focal length of the divergent lens (f2) :

Choose the value d 2(suggestion: 50mm,55mm,60mmm).

Using the connecting method to calculate the value d ' 2.

d2 . d ' 2
Focal length f 2of the divergent lens O2can be determined by: f 2= d + d '
2 2

III. Equations

The Silberman method:

 L0
f 1= (mm)
4
Error: f 1=f 1 sys+ f 1 (mm)

The Bessel method:

L2 −a2
f 1= (mm)
4L

Error: f
∆f
1 sys

1 mid
= 2
|
mid
2
Lmid −amid
2L
−
L
1
mid
| |
∆ L sys+ 2
−2 a
mid

Lmid −a2mid |
∆ a sys

f 1=f 1 sys+ f 1 (mm)

The Connecting points method:
d2 d '2
f 2= (mm)
d 2+ d '2
∆ f 2 sys
Error: =¿
|f 2 mid|
f 2=f 2 sys+ f 2 (mm)

IV. Experimental data

Table 1
Silberman method Bessel method
L0 f1 Δf1 L a f1 Δf1
1 400 100.0 0.33 450 150 100.00 0.153
2 398 99.5 0.17 470 179 100.46 0.307
3 398 99.5 0.17 490 210 100.00 0.153
Average 398.7 99.67 0.22 100.153 0.204

Bessel method:
 2 2
L1 −a1 450 2−1502
f 11= = =100.00(mm)
4 L1 4 × 450
2 2
L2 −a2 470 2−1792
f 12= = =100.46(mm)
4 L2 4 × 470
2 2
L −a3 4902−2102
f 13= 3 = =100.00( mm)
4 L3 4 × 490
f +f + f 100.00+100.46+100.00
f 1= 11 12 13 = =100.153( mm)
3 3

Δ f 11 = |f 1−f 11|= |100.153−100.00| = 0.153 (mm)

Δ f 12 = |f 1−f 12|= |100.153−100.46| = 0.307 (mm)
Δ f 13 = |f 1−f 13| = |100.153−100.00| = 0.153 (mm)
Δ f 11+ Δ f 12 + Δ f 13 0.153+ 0.307+0.153
Δ f 1= = =0.204(mm)
3 3

Silberman method:
L01+ L02+ L03 400+398+398
L0 = = =398.7 (mm)
3 3
L01 400
f 11= = =100.0(mm)
4 4
L02 398
f 12= = =99.5(mm)
4 4
L03 398
f 13= = =99.5(mm)
4 4
f 11 +f 12 + f 13 100.0+99.5+ 99.5
f 1= = =99.67(mm)
3 3

Δ f 11 = |f 1−f 11|= |99.67−100.0| = 0.33 (mm)

Δ f 12 = |f 1−f 12|= |99.67−99.5| = 0.17 (mm)
Δ f 13 = |f 1−f 13| = |99.67−99.5| = 0.17 (mm)
Δ f 11+ Δ f 12 + Δ f 13 0.33+ 0.17+0.17
Δ f 1= = =0.22(mm)
3 3
Table 2

Connecting point method

d2 d’2 f2 Δf2
1 -50 175 -70.00 0.123

2 -55 258 -69.90 0.023

3 -60 430 -69.73 0.147
Average -69.877 0.098

Connecting point method:

d 21 d ' 21 −50 × 175
f 21= = =−70.00(mm)
d21 +d ' 21 −50+175
d d' −55 × 258
f 22= 22 22 = =−69.90(mm)
d22 +d ' 22 −55+258
d 23 d ' 23 −60 × 430
f 23 = = =−69.73(mm)
d 23 + d ' 23 −60+430
f 21 +f 22+ f 23 −70+(−69.90)+(−69.73)
f 2= = =−69.877 (mm)
3 3

Δ f 21 = |f 2−f 21|= |−69.877−(−70)| = 0.123 (mm)

Δ f 22 = |f 2−f 22|= |−69.877−(−69.90)| = 0.023(mm)
Δ f 23 = |f 2−f 23| = |−69.877−(−69.73)| = 0.147(mm)
Δ f 21+ Δ f 22+ Δ f 23 0.123+0.023+0.147
Δ f 2= = =0.098(mm)
3 3

V. Calculation works
Focal length and its uncertainties
1/ Silberman method:
∆ L0 sys
f 1 sys= =0.25( mm)
4
 f 1=f 1 sys+ f 1=0.25+0.22=0.47 (mm)
2/ Bessel method:
∆ f 1 sys
f 1 mid |
= 2
2 Lmid
−
1
Lmid −amid Lmid
2
| |−2 amid
∆ L sys+ 2 2
Lmid −amid
∆ a sys=
| |2 × 470
470 −179 470
2 2
−
1
× 1+
−2 ×179
4702−1792| |
×1=4.7452× 1
|
∆ f 1 sys=4.7452× 10−3 ×100.46=0.477(mm)
¿> f 1=f 1 sys +f 1=0.477+0.204=0.681( mm)
3/ Connecting points method:

| | | | | | | |
∆ f 2 sys 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
= − × ∆ d 2 sys + ' − × ∆ d '2 sys = − ×1+ −
|f 2 mid d 2mid d 2 mid +d '2 mid '
d 2 mid d 2 mid +d 2 mid −55 −55+ 258 258 −55+
∆ f 2 sys=0.02416×|f 2 mid|=0.02416 × 69.90=1.689(mm)
¿> f 2=f 2 sys + f 2=1.689+0.098=1.787(mm)

VI. Results
Silberman method: f 1=f 1 ± ∆ f 1=99.67 ± 0.47(mm)
Bessel method: f 1=f 1 ± ∆ f 1=100.153 ±0.681 (mm)
Connecting points method: f 2=f 2 ± ∆ f 2=−69.877 ± 1.787 (mm)

QUESTIONS
1. Write down convex lens formulas and sign consent of all quantities in these formulas.
The following equation is the relation between the convex lens’s focal length f and the
distances d and d' from the lens's optical center to the AB object and the A' B' image of AB:
1 1 1
= +
f d d'
Along with that:
● f is the focal length of the convex lens : f > 0 => convergent lens ; f < 0 => divergent
lens
● d is the distance from optical center of the lens to the AB object d > 0 => real object ;
d < 0 => imaginary object
● d ' is the distance from optical center of the lens to A' B' image of AB object Ok
( If d ' > 0 => real image ; If d ' < 0 => imaginary image)
2. Describe the measurement method of the convergent lens in this experiment. Draw
figure illustrating the image forming of the AB object.
I) First method: The Silberman method

a) At the 10cm mark, place AB near the light D. After that, position the AB object to
obtain a uniform exposure. The convergent lens is situated between the AB and the
screen M with a mutual distance of less than 4f.
b) Until the sharp image is obtained, move the convergent lens O1and the screen M
such that the lens O1has the same distances with AB and M. The image is the same
size as the object in this setup.
c) Moving the lens a centimeter and the screen twice the lens' moving distance till
near the sharpest condition, then moving with millimeter scale to get exact
location.To table 1 in the report, write down the distance L0between AB and the
screen M.
d) Make triple replications of the measurement in (b) times. In this situation, the
convergent lens O1may be found by:

L0
f 1=
4
II)Second method: Bessel method
 a) Place the screen M far away AB on the optical bench with a distance L 4.f 1 (the
proposed values for this experiment are L= 4,5 f 1 ,L= 4,7 f 1, L= 4,9 f 1)
b) Moving the convergent lens O1from close to far away from the AB object to
position (I) where the sharpest image A' B' on the screen M is greater than the
AB object (Figure.3a). In table 1 of the report, write down the coordinate x (1)
of the lens O1at location (I).
c) Continue moving the convergent lens O1further away AB to position (II) on the
screen M to get the clearest picture A1 B 1smaller than AB (Figure 3b). Fill in the
table 1 with the coordinate x (2) of the lens O1at position (II).
d) Make replication of the task (b) and (c) triple times. In the above, the
displacement a of the lens O1 from position (I) to position (II) is:
a=x 2−x 1
- The focal length f 1 of the convergent lens O1 can be determined by:
2 2
L −a
f 1=
4L

3. Describe the measurement method of the divergent lens in this experiment. Draw
figure illustrating the image forming of the AB object
The connecting point method:
a) Maintaining the location of the AB object and the convergent lens O1 at position (II)
on the screen M in Figure 12.3b to achieve the sharpest picture A1 B 1smaller than AB.
Apart from the screen M |d 2|=O2 B1 <|f 2| | (in this experiment, the proposed values
|d 2|=50 mm ,55 mm , 60 mm ¿ place the divergent lens O2on the track 4 behind the
convergent lens O1 and coaxial with lens O1 .
b) To get the sharp image A2 B 2aside from divergent lens O2distance d 2' in Figure 12.4,
move the screen M further away from the divergent lens O2to the location M'. Make
three copies of this work and record the distance d 2' in each time, along with the
associated value of d 2, in table 12.2 of the report.
Focal length f 2 of the divergent lens O2can be determined by:
'
d2. d2
f 2= '
d 2+ d 2
in which d 2< 0 ( A1 B 1is imaginary object), d 2' > 0 ( A2' B2' is real image) f 2and < 0 (lens O2is
divergent)

4. Prove that if the distance L between AB and its real image given by the
convergent lens with focal length f 1is constant, :
- if L = 4 f 1 : there is only one position of convergent lens within L providing the
sharpest image on the screen M
- if L > 4 f 1 : there are two positions of convergent lens within distance L that
provide sharp image.

+ If L = 4 f 1 :
 2 2 2 2
L −a L L L −a
From the formula f 1= we have f 1= ⇔ =
4L 4 4 4L
⇔ 4 ( L2−a2 )=4 L2 ⇔−4 a2=0 ⇔ a=0
- Because a = 0 => the convergent lens O1displacement from position (I) to position (II)
is equal to 0, there is only one convergent lens location inside L that provides the
clearest image on the screen M.
+ If L > 4 f 1 :
L2 −a2 L L L2 −a2
From the formula f 1= we have f 1< ⇔ >
4L 4 4 4L
2 2 2 2
⇔ L > L −a ⇔ a < 0 ∀ a ≠ 0
Because a ≠ 0 => the displacement of the convergent lens O1 from position (I) to
position (II) ≠0 => Within the distance L, there are two convergent lens locations
that create a sharp image on the screen M.

5. Relative error of the measurement of focal length of convergent lens is

determined by:
∆f 1 ∆d ∆L
= [ ( L−2 d ) . +d . ]
f L−d d L
in which d is the distance from real object to the convergent lens and L is the distance
from the real object to its real image.
Based on the above formula and derivative method, prove that the focal length
measurement will have the minimum error if the convergent lens have the same distance
with its real object and image.
- If the real object and image of the convergent lens are at the same distance, L = 2d.
∆f ∆L
- Applying this result to the formula => f = L
 - By using the derivative method and the above conclusion, we can deduce that when
the convergent lens is close to the place where the real object and image are at the
same distance, the value of L will approach the value of 2d, and the relative error of
focal length will decrease to the smallest value.

6. Can we measure the focal length of the divergent lens by placing this lens in front
of the convergent lens (given all lenses are coaxial)? Draw illustrating figure for the image
formation of this case.
- Yes we can .
- By positioning AB object near and in front of the convergent lens L0, and adjusting AB
object so that there is picture behind the diverging lens L via L0, we eventually get the
genuine image.
- These are four steps to do :
Step 1: Maintaining the location of the AB item, move the convergent lens and screen
until the picture on the screen is plainly visible (arrange these things provided that the
convergent lens gives small image)

Step 2: Place the divergent lens between the convergent lens and the screen a few
centimeters distant from the screen, and the picture on the screen becomes hazy. d 2 is the
distance between the diverging lens and the screen.

Step 3: Move the screen far away from lens until receive clear image on the screen,
measure the distance d 2' from the divergent lens to the screen

Step 4: Measure the distance d 2' from the diverging lens to the screen by moving the screen
far away from the lens until you get a clear image on the screen.
'
d2. d2
Determine f 2 by the formula f 2= '
d 2+ d 2
Because d 2 < 0 and |d 2'| > |d 2| so f 2 < 0