GEOMETRIC OPTICS

Part II
 REVIEW
Refraction is the bending of a wave
disturbance as it passes at an angle from one
_________ into another.
A. glass
B. area
C. medium
D. boundary

J.M. Gabrielse
 REVIEW
Which of these do not change when a wave
travels from one medium to another?
A. Frequency
B. Wavelength
C. Velocity
D. Amplitude

J.M. Gabrielse
 REVIEW
When a ray of light from air enters a block of
glass at an angle, what change in direction
will the ray take?
A. The ray will move towards the normal
B. The ray won't move at all
C. The ray will move away from the normal
D. The ray will pass through another
medium in a straight line.

J.M. Gabrielse
 REVIEW
What principle do fiber optic cables rely upon
in order to operate in telecommunication
systems?
A. Refraction
B. Diffraction
C. Total Internal Refraction
D. Total Internal Reflection.

J.M. Gabrielse
 REVIEW
A beam of light in air is incident at an angle
of 35° to the surface of a rectangular block
of clear plastic (n = 1.49).
What is the angle of refraction?

A. 12° B. 23° C. 42° D. 57°

J.M. Gabrielse
 Lenses
The first telescope, designed and built by Galileo, used lenses to focus light from
faraway objects, into Galileo’s eye. His telescope consisted of a concave lens and a
convex lens.

light from convex concave

far away lens lens
object

Light rays are always refracted (bent) towards the thickest part of the lens.
J.M. Gabrielse
TYPES OF LENSES
Convex Lenses

•
F
optical axis

J.M. Gabrielse
 Convex Lenses

•
F
optical axis

Light rays that come in parallel to the optical axis converge at the focal point.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Concave Lenses

•
F
optical axis

Light
Therays
lightthat
rayscome
behave
in parallel
the same to the
wayoptical
if we ignore
axis diverge
the thickness
from the
offocal
the lens.
point.

J.M. Gabrielse
Parts of (A) convex lens and
(B) concave lens

P – principal /optical axis

O – optical center
F – primary focus
F’ – secondary focus
J.M. Gabrielse
 RULES
A. Incident ray PARALLEL TO THE PRINCIPAL AXIS,
when it refracts, it will (A) MOVE TOWARDS THE
SECONDARY FOCUS or (B) FOLLOW THE PATH
ALONG THE SECONDARY FOCUS (F’).

J.M. Gabrielse
 RULES
B. Incident ray (A) PASSING THROUGH THE FOCUS or
(B) MOVING TOWARDS THE FOCUS when hits the
mirror, will be reflected PARALLEL TO THE
PRINCIPAL AXIS.

J.M. Gabrielse
 RULES

C. Incident ray PASSING THE OPTICAL CENTER will

continue its path because there will be no refraction.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Concave Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts from the focal point.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Concave Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts from the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Concave Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts from the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.
The light rays don’t converge, but the sight lines do.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Concave Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts from the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.
The light rays don’t converge, but the sight lines do.
A virtual image forms where the sight lines converge. J.M. Gabrielse
 Your Turn
(Concave Lens)

•
object F
optical axis

concave lens

• Note: lenses are thin enough that you just draw a line to represent the lens.
• Locate the image of the arrow.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Your Turn
(Concave Lens)

•
object Fimage
optical axis

concave lens

• Note: lenses are thin enough that you just draw a line to represent the lens.
• Locate the image of the arrow.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Convex Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts through the focal point.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Convex Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts through the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.

J.M. Gabrielse
 Convex Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts through the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.
The light rays don’t converge, but the sight lines do.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Convex Lens
(example)

•
F
optical axis

The first ray comes in parallel to the optical axis and refracts through the focal point.
The second ray goes straight through the center of the lens.
The light rays don’t converge, but the sight lines do.
A virtual image forms where the sight lines converge. J.M. Gabrielse
 Your Turn
(Convex Lens)

optical axis
•
object F

convex lens

• Note: lenses are thin enough that you just draw a line to represent the lens.
• Locate the image of the arrow.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Your Turn
(Convex Lens)

optical axis
image
•
object F

convex lens

• Note: lenses are thin enough that you just draw a line to represent the lens.
• Locate the image of the arrow.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Types of Images Formed by Convex Lens for
Different Object Positions
Object Image Type of Image Example
Position Position
Between F In front of the Virtual, upright, Magnifying
and O lens larger glass
At F At infinity No image Lighthouse /
spotlight
Between F Beyond 2F Real, inverted, Overhead
and 2F larger projector
At 2F At 2F Real, inverted, Office copier
same size
Beyond 2F Between F and Real, inverted, Camera
2F smaller
At infinity At F Real, inverted, Refracting
smaller telescope
Image formed by Concave Lens
• For concave lens , image is always virtual,
upright and smaller
Types of Images Formed Types of Images Formed
by Concave Mirror for by Convex Lens for
Different Object Positions Different Object Positions

For convex mirror – image is always For concave lens – image is always virtual,
virtual, upright, and smaller upright, and smaller

J.M. Gabrielse
Lens Equation Magnification
Equation
1 1 1 h' q
  m 
f p q h p

J.M. Gabrielse
 Sign Conventions for Lenses
• f is (+) if the lens is a double convex lens
(converging lens)
• f is (-) if the lens is a double concave lens (diverging
lens)
• q is (+) if the image is real and located behind the
lens
• q is (-) if the image is virtual and located on the
object’s side of the lens
• h’ is (+) if the image is an upright image (and
therefore, also virtual)
• h’ is (-) if the image is inverted (and therefore, also
real) J.M. Gabrielse
 Problem Solving
1. A magnifying glass (convex lens)
is used to increase the size of a
small object. What is the image
distance and height if a 5.0-cm
focal length magnifying glass is
placed 2.0 cm away from a
1.5 cm rice grain? Then describe
the image using S.O.L.T
J.M. Gabrielse
 Problem Solving
2. A 15-cm object is placed 30
cm away from a convex lens
having a 45 cm focal length.
What is the distance and
height of the image? Then
describe the image using
S.O.L.T.
J.M. Gabrielse
 Problem Solving

3. A diverging lens that has a

20-cm focal length is
positioned 5.0 cm from a
2.0-cm object. Will the image
be larger or smaller? Prove
your answer.
J.M. Gabrielse
OPTICAL DEVICES
 Power of a lens
• Optometrists, instead of using focal length,
use the reciprocal of the focal length to
specify the strength of eyeglasses or
contact lenses. This is called power.

• P = f -1
 Diopter (D)
• The unit for lens power is the diopter (D),
which is an inverse meter (m-1)
• For example, a 20 cm focal length lens
has a power of 1/(0.20 m) or 5.0 m-1.
Using the unit diopter, the power is written
as 5.0 D.
 Linear Magnification
• Linear magnification is the ratio of the size
of an image to the size of an object. It will
be represented by a lower case m.

• m = hi/ho
 Near Point
• The closest distance at which the eye can
focus clearly is called the near point of
the eye. For young adults, the near point
is typically 25 cm. As people grow older,
the ability of the eye to accommodate is
reduced and the near point increases.
• The focusing adjustment of the eye is
called accommodation.
 Far Point
• A given person’s far point is the farthest
distance at which an object can be clearly
seen. For the normal eye, the far point
may be assumed to be at infinity.
 Eye

Eye Structure
 The eye
• The optical behavior of the eye is similar to that of a
camera.
• Figure below shows the basic structure of the eye.
 Applications: II. Our eyes and
eyeglasses
• Eyes: an optical system that can form a
real, virtual and reduced size image on
the retina
• Multiple refractors: cornea, the lens and
some fluids (total power: 60 diopters,
lens only: 20 diopters)
• the lens can vary its focal length (20-24
diopters) (eyes like an auto-focus
camera) (auto-focusing property
decreases with age)
• eye problems:
- myopia (nearsightedness): clear images
formed in front of the retina, corrected by
eyeglasses with diverging lenses)
- hyperopia (farsightedness): clear images
are formed behind the retina, corrected by
eyeglasses with converging lenses)
 Applications: II. Our eyes and
eyeglasses
- presbyopia (aging eyes or old eyes):
consequences of growing old. The
crystalline lens hardens and the ciliary
muscles become less flexible making
accommodation not easy as before,
corrected by bifocal lens
- astigmatism - caused by a cornea or
lens that has a different shape than
normal (unequal curvature), cylindrical
lens is used to correct astigmatism.
 Telescope

Reflector Telescope Refractor Telescope

 Telescope

Reflector Telescope Refractor Telescope

Refracting Telescope
(Keplerian)
Refracting Telescope
(Galilean)
Reflecting Telescope
(Cassegrain)

Image is larger, inverted , and real

• Larger lenses tend to distort its shape due
to its weight. This is known as lens sag
• Light passing through a lens also
experiences aberration known as
chromatic aberration which is why images
produced are blurred.
Binoculars
 Simple Microscope
(Magnifying glass)

A single lens optical

device which can
enlarge objects from
2 to 6 times its
original size.
Microscope
The Camera
The Camera Priciple
The Camera Focus
Inside a Camera
Cameras
 Parts of a Camera

• Aperture – an opening through which light

enters. This is covered by a
convex lens. This corresponds
to the pupil.
 Parts of a Camera

• Shutter – which corresponds to our eyelids,

opens or closes the aperture.
 Parts of a Camera

• Iris diaphragm – behind the shutter that changes

the size of the lens opening in the same manner
as the iris controls the size of the pupil to
regulate light that enters.
 Parts of a Camera

• Iris diaphragm – behind the shutter that changes

the size of the lens opening in the same manner
as the iris controls the size of the pupil to
regulate light that enters.
 Parts of a Camera

• Film – which corresponds to the retina, placed

behind the iris diaphragm.
• Convex Lens - refracts light rays
 Parts of a Camera
• Iris diaphragm – behind the shutter that
changes the size of the lens opening in the
same manner as the iris controls the size
of the pupil to regulate light that enters.

• Film – which corresponds to the retina,

placed behind the iris diaphragm.

• Convex Lens - refracts light rays

 Parts of a Camera vs. Human Eye
Parts of the Camera Parts of the Human Eye

Aperture Pupil

Convex Lens Cornea lens system

Shutter Eyelid

Iris Diaphragm Iris

Film Retina
 Lens Aberrations
• When we learned about lens ray diagrams, we
made a couple of approximations that, in reality,
are not true.
• We assumed that all rays of light would be close
to the principal axis, and we assumed that light
would pass though the center of the lens without
bending.
• In reality, due to the true nature of lenses,
aberrations may occur that result in an imperfect
image.
 Spherical Aberration
• Spherical aberration occurs because
spherical surfaces are not the ideal shape
with which to make a lens, but they are by
far the simplest shape to which glass can
be ground and polished and so are often
used. Spherical aberration causes beams
parallel to, but distant from, the lens axis
to be focused in a slightly different place
than beams close to the axis. This
manifests itself as a blurring of the image.
Spherical Aberration Diagram
 Reducing Spherical Aberration
• Spherical aberration can be corrected by
using non-spherical lens surfaces.
However, to grind such a lens is
expensive.
• Spherical aberration is generally
minimized by using a series of lenses in
combination and only using the central
part of the lens.
 Chromatic Aberration
• Spherical aberration will occur for
monochromatic light is called a
monochromatic aberration.
• Normal light, however is not
monochromatic, but contains all the
colours of the spectrum.
• Chromatic aberration occurs due to the
different colours of light passing through a
lens simultaneously.
• Chromatic aberration occurs because of
dispersion – the variations of index of
refraction with colour resulting in the
different colours of light bending different
amounts.
• For example, blue light bends more than
red light as it passes through a prism.
• So, if white light passes through a lens, the
different colours will focus at different
points. This is chromatic aberration.
Diagram showing chromatic
aberration
 Eliminating Chromatic Aberration
• Chromatic aberration can be eliminated for
any two colours (and greatly reduced for
all others) by the use of two lenses made
of different materials with different indices
of refraction. Normally, one lens is
converging and one is diverging and they
are cemented together.
• This combination is called an achromatic
doublet.
Diagram for achromatic doublet
B

F
 Thanks/Further Info
• Faulkes Telescope Project: Light & Optics by Sarah
Roberts
• Fundamentals of Optics: An Introduction for Beginners by
Jenny Reinhard
• PHET Geometric Optics (Flash Simulator)
• Thin Lens & Mirror (Java Simulator) by Fu-Kwun Hwang

J.M. Gabrielse
THANK YOU
for listening!