Downloaded From Classnotes.com.

ng On 2021-Apr-08 12:09:47

Physics SSS2 Third Term

Sub Theme: Waves Motion without Material Transfer

WEEK 7

Human Eye

Performance Objectives

ClassN
Students should be able to;

1.
otes.CO
Explain the role played by some parts of the eye in the formation of image

2.
3.
on the retina.
Compare and contrast the eye and the camera.
State the defects of the eye and their causes.
M.NG
4.
Identify the type of lenses for correcting the various defects of the eye.

Optical Instruments

Content

Optical instruments processes light waves to enhance an image for viewing or

analyze light waves to determine number of characteristic properties. The very first
optical instruments were telescopes and microscopes used for magnifications of
images. Mirrors and lenses find their applications in very many walks of life. Since
the days of Galileo, these optical instruments have been greatly improved and
extended into other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. These instruments
employ calculations of positions of objects and images from ray diagrams that we
have discussed in Spherical Mirrors and Lenses.
Some optical instruments that we see in everyday lives are:
1.
The human eye – convex lens.
2.
Corrections of defects of vision – combinations of concave and convex lenses.
3.
Compound microscope – double convex lens.
4.
Telescope – convex lenses.
5.
Holography – combination of convex lens and mirrors.
6.
Three dimensional viewing – combination of convex lenses.
7.
Binoculars – Prisms, convex lenses and mirrors.
8.
Camera – combination of convex lenses.
9.
Periscope – Plane mirrors or prisms.

Human Eye
ClassN
otes.CO
M.NG
Light is the only thing we see with the most remarkable optical instrument known –
the eye. Light enters the eye through the transparent cover called the cornea, which
does about 70% of the necessary bending of the light before the light passes
through the pupil (which is an aperture in the iris). The light then passes through the
lens, which is used only to provide the extra bending power needed to focus images
of nearby objects on the layer at the back of the eye, the retina.
The lens is held by ciliary muscles, which stretch and relax to change the focal
length of the lens. The distance of the image that a lens produces on the retina
depends on the object distance and the focal length of the lens. In the case of the
eye lens, however, the image is always produced on the retina no matter where the
object is. In other words, for the eye lens, the image distance is fixed. Therefore the
focal length of the eye lens must change in accordance with the object distance.
This is the function of ciliary muscles.

The Defects of Human Eyes

Myopia (Short sightedness):

Human eye can see clearly the objects lying at short distances from it. but not the

ClassN
far off objects

Causes of Myopia:
otes.CO
M.NG
1. Increase in the length of the eye ball as if distance of the retina from the eye has
increased.

2. Decrease in focal length of eye lens when the eye is fully relaxed.

Remedy: To correct a myopic eye, the person has to wear spectacle with a concave
lens of suitable focal length. (i.e.) the focal length of concave lens is equal to the
distance of the far point of the myopic eye.

Hypermetropia (Long sightedness):

It is that defect of a human eye by virtue of which it can see clearly the objects lying
at large distances from it but the nearby objects cannot be seen clearly.
Causes of Hypermetropia:

(1) Decrease in length of eye ball as if distance of retina from the eye lens has
decreased

(2) Increase in the focal length of the eye lens when the eye is fully relaxed.

ClassN
Remedy: To correct a hypermetropic eye, the person has to wear spectacle with a
convex lens of suitable focal length.

otes.CO
The focal length of the convex lens is given by f=(x d) / (x-d)

M.NG
where x is the distance of near point of defective eye, d is the distance of near point
of normal eye (25 cm)

Presbyopia:

In this defect old person cannot read and write comfortably.

Remedy: An old person has to use spectacles with a convex lens of suitable focal
length

When a person suffers from both myopia and hypermetropia his spectacles have bi-
focal lenses (i.e) both concave and convex lenses.

Astigmatism

The defect, by which the person is notable to differentiate horizontal and vertical
position, is called astigmatism. It can be rectified by using cylindrical lenses.
Binoculars

Binoculars are like a pair of telescopes fixed together so there is one for each eye.
The distance between them is adjustable for different people and they can be
focused on whatever you are looking at. They are vital for bird watching, watching
horse racing and in the military.

To understand the working principle of binoculars, first you need to know a little
about telescopes. In fact, this is exactly what binoculars are, two identical
telescopes placed next to each other.

At the front of each telescope is a lens, called the objective. Its role is to gather light
from whatever it is you’re looking at and bring it to a focus in the eyepiece, where

ClassN
the light is formed into a visible image and magnified to take up a large portion of the

otes.CO
retina. The magnification depends on the focal length of the eyepiece, and for
binoculars it is usually between 5x and 10x.

M.NG

The image produced by this telescope will be upside down and backwards, but for
astronomical viewing this is not a major inconvenient. In space there is no up and
down or left and right. However, for watching birds or following the action at a
baseball game a right- side-up picture is essential. This is why binoculars use
corrective elements between the objective and the eyepiece, called prisms.

Prisms used in binoculars are blocks of glass that function as mirrors, but without a
mirror’s reflective backing. The role is to bring the light beams from the objective
closer together by means of internal reflection, and also turn the image right-side up
and orient the view properly left to right.
To better understand the working principles take a look at the image above. It shows
the path of the light as it enters the objectives, passes through a set of prisms that
turn the image right side up, and finally leaves the eyepieces to enter the observer’s
eyes. This applies to all binoculars, no matter what model or size.

All binoculars are described by using a pair of numbers, such as 7×50 or 8×30. The
first number, including the x, represents magnification or “power”. This tells the
degree to which the object observed is enlarged. For example, a 7x binocular makes
an object appear seven times closer than when viewed by the naked eye.

There are some models of binoculars that offer variable magnification, usually in the
range of 5x to 8x. They are called zoom binoculars, and in most cases are not very
suited for astronomical observations because of the inferior optical quality and

ClassN
fragile mechanics. The best thing to do is to avoid them and stick with the usual
fixed-power binoculars.
otes.CO
M.NG
Magnification is not that important, and in most cases comes within 7x to 12x. If the
magnification exceeds these figures, most likely you won’t be able to hold the
binoculars steady enough and the images will be blurry and in constant movement.
This is especially frustrating when observing faint objects like galaxies and nebulae.
A tripod mount or image-stabilized binoculars will get you rid of this problem, but we
will talk about this later in the article.

Downloaded From Classnotes.com.ng On 2021-Apr-08 12:09:47