LENSES

Lesson Objectives
Students should be able to:
1. Illustrate the effect of converging and
diverging lenses on a beam of parallel rays;
2. Define the terms:
a) principal axis;
b) principal focus;
c) focal length;
d) focal plane;
e) magnification;
 Key Terms
 principal axis; an imaginary straight line
that passes through the geometrical centre of
the lens.
 principal focus; a point (on the principal axis)
where parallel incident rays meet after reflecting (in
mirrors) or refracting (in lenses).
 focal length; the distance between the optical
centre and the focus of the lens
 focal plane; the distance between your lens and
the perfect point of focus in an image.
Refraction occurs in
both concave and
convex lenses.

A lens is a piece
of material in
which light is
able to pass
through and is
used to refract
light.
HOW DO LENS WORK

A lens works by
refracting (bending)
light rays as they pass
through it so they
change direction.

Lenses work by bending

light at a glass-air
boundary. Although
refraction occurs at
the boundary we will
treat all lenses as
bending the rays at the
lens axis.
TWO TYPES OF
LENSES

• There are 2
types of
lenses:
1. CONVEX
2. CONCAVE
 Lenses and Images

A lens forms an
image by
REFRACTING light
rays that pass
through it.
The type of image
formed by a lens
depends on the
shape of the lens
and the position of
the object.
 Convex Lens
 A convex lens or magnifying glass is thicker
in the middle then on the ends which causes
the light rays focus (converge)
CONVERGING LENS

The lens in the eye is a

convex or converging
lens. This means that
the lens that makes the
rays of light come
together or converge.

The rays parallel to the

principal axis are
converted onto the
principal focus.

The focal length is the

distance between the
lens axis and the
principal focus.
 Concave Lens

• A concave lens is thinner in the middle than at the edges and

causes light rays to spread apart (divergence)

It looks like there is a cave

on both sides!! So, it must
be concave!!
DIVERGING LENS

The concave lens

causes rays travelling
parallel to the principal
axis to diverge, which
is why it is called a
diverging lens.

The principal focus is

virtual because the
rays do not pass
through it, but diverge
as if they had come
from it.
 CONCAVE AND CONVEX LENSES

A CONVEX LENS CAN FOCUS THE LIGHT CONCAVE LENSES MAKE LIGHT RAYS MOVE
THAT ENTERS IT AND DIRECT IT TO ONE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER OR SPREAD OUT
POINT.
Examples of CONVEX lenses
1. Magnifying glass

2. Cameras

3. Telescopes

4. Our Eyes

5. Glasses
 Example of CONCAVE lenses
 Nearsighted eyeglasses
(can’t see far away)
IMAGE FORMATION
 Objectives
Students should be able to:
1. Differentiate Between Real And Virtual
Images;
2. Apply The Equations For Magnification;

3. Determine The Focal Length Of A

Converging Lens.
 Convex Lenses and Images
• Depending on where you hold the lens--the image you see will
either be right side up (real image) or upside down(virtual
image)
 Convex Lenses and Images
 The main difference between real and virtual
images lies in the way in which they are
produced.
 Real image- formed when rays converge
 Virtual image- occurs when rays only appear
to diverge
 Magnification
 It tells you the change in size, or height (the
magnification) of the image relative to the
object, using the object and image distances
from the mirror.
 Magnification
The ratio of the height (size) of an image to the height
(size) of an object is defined as the magnification of a
lens.
 Magnification = image size/ object size

Also, magnification is equal to the ratio of image

distance to that of object distance.
 Magnification = image distance (v)/ object

distance (u)
Magnification
 Cont’d
 Upright heights are
positive
 Heights that are
inverted are negative
 Distances to the right
of the lens or behind
the lens are positive
 Distances to the left of
the lens or in front of
the lens are negative
 Class Activity
 A ball is placed 3.0 cm in front of a lens. If the
image of the ball appears to be 21 cm behind
the lens, calculate the magnification index of
the lens.
 A 10 cm tall flower is placed in front of a
concave mirror. If the image of the flower is
inverted and 7.5 cm, what is the magnification
of the mirror?
 Lens Formula – Converging Lens
 The lens formula is used to find the image
distance, the type of image formed, and the
focal length (f).

 Where;
f is the focal length,
u is the object distance
v is the image distance
 Class activity
 An object of height 2cm is placed at a distance
of 8cm from a converging lens of focal length
4cm. How far from the lens is the image
formed? Is the image real or virtual?