Lenses

 A lens is a piece of transparent material that is shaped to cause light rays

to bend in a specific way as they pass through it, whether that means
making the rays converge to a specific point or to diverge as if from a specific
point.
 The material used could be a piece of glass or plastic, and the shape of the
lens determines whether it causes light rays to converge or diverge.
 The word “lens” comes from the Latin word for “lentil,” due to the similarity
in shape between a converging lens and the legume.
 The actual bending of light rays produced by a lens occurs because the lens
material has a different index of refraction than the surrounding air. This
behavior is described by Snell’s law for refraction, which relates the different
in angle between the incident and refracted light ray to the indices of
refraction for the two materials.

 law of refraction is also known as Snell's Law, named for Willebrord Snellius
was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, AKA Snell.

 Snell’s Law, in optics, a relationship between the path taken by a ray of light
in crossing the boundary or surface of separation between two contacting
substances and the refractive index of each.
o When light enters a new medium (like when it’s traveling
through the air and then runs into water or glass) it will either
speed up or slow down. When this happens, the light will bend
(refract).
o Movement of light to a material with a higher index of refraction
means the light will slow down. It will bend toward the normal
in the new medium.
o Movement of light to a material with a lower index of refraction
means the light will speed up. It will bend away from the
normal in the new medium.

TAG-AGA – towards normal if AIR → GLASS

- away from normal if GLASS → AIR

o The law says that if you’re going from a lower refractive index
substance to a higher one (e.g., from air to glass), the light ray
is deflected towards the “normal” to the surface (i.e., towards
the direction perpendicular to the surface at that point) and
that the opposite is true for light rays going from a higher
refractive index material to a lower one.
o How fast light will move through a material is dependent on its
index of refraction, n. The index of refraction tells the ratio
between the speed of light in a vacuum (c) and the speed of light
in the new medium. Light travels at about the same speed in a
vacuum as it travels in air, so the index of refraction for air is 1.
 o The angle the light makes with the normal will either increase or
decrease when light travels between mediums. These angles are
related to the index of refraction according to Snell’s Law:
𝑛1𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃1=𝑛2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃2
o When the refracted angle (θ2) is 90°, we have reached the
critical angle in the first medium (when θ1 = critical angle, θ2 =
90°).

Lenses are made of materials that refract light to form an image. They follow
the same rules for image formation that mirrors follow.

Lenses can be converging or diverging. Both types of lenses form images.

o An image that appears on the opposite side of the lens is real (positive)

o An image formed from an object on the same side of the lens is virtual
(negative)

o The curvature of a lens is, like a mirror, defined by its focal length

Because both sides of a lens are curved, there is a focal length on each side of
the lens.
o All heights and distances of images and objects in lenses are related
in the same way as objects and images in mirrors. The same formulas
still apply:

ℎ𝑖 −𝑑𝑖
M = =
ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑜

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖

In these formulas, focal lengths for diverging lenses are negative and converging
lenses are positive.

 All lenses have 2 focal points, one on each side of the lens, but only one focal
length.
o The focal length of a lens is the distance from the center of the lens to the point at
which it focuses light rays. The shorter the focal length, the more powerful the
lens.
o Bigger lenses gather more light than smaller ones, so they make a brighter
image. This is particularly important if you're choosing a lens for a camera
because the amount of light the lens gathers will determine what the image
looks like.
o Camera lenses are usually rated with a measurement called the f-number,
which is the focal length divided by the diameter. Generally, lenses with a
small f-number make brighter images. Lenses with a higher f-number have
a bigger depth of focus: essentially, more of the object you're
photographing, and its surroundings are in focus at the same time.

 Lens Makers Formula.

The focal length of a lens (valid for thin lenses) depends on the
following:
- refractive index of the material of the lens (nL)
- refractive index of the medium in which it is immersed (nm)
- radii of curvature of the two faces of the lens (R1 and R2)

 Sign Conventions:

SIGN + -
Focal length - f Converging Lens Diverging Lens
Radii of curvature - R Convex Surface Concave Surface

 Whether a surface is convex or concave is determined by light striking

the lens before passing through the lens. For example, the first
surface struck by the light in the diagram of the diverging lens above is
concave. If this convention is adhered to it does not matter which
surface is labeled R1 or R 2.

• Image Formation: Similar to the spherical mirror case there are three
characteristic rays, any two of which enable the location of the image to
be determined.
o Rays passing through the center of a lens are transmitted without
deflection.
 o Rays parallel to the axis are refracted such that they pass through
the focal point of the lens (converging) or appear to have come from
the focal point (diverging).
o Rays passing through the focal point are then refracted parallel to
the axis of the lens (converging) or rays which are headed towards
the focal point on the other side of the lens are refracted parallel to
the exis (diverging).

Diverging lenses always form reduced, virtual images.

When drawing ray diagrams for lenses, draw refracted rays instead of reflected
rays, but use all the same rules as for lenses. When it references drawing lines
through focal points, use the focal point behind the lens for converging and in
front of the lens for diverging.

• Sign Conventions: The following sign conventions must be followed,

SIGN + -
f - focal length Converging lens Diverging lens
p - object distance Real Virtual
q - image distance Real Virtual
m - magnification Upright image Inverted image
 • Image Properties: Exactly as in the case of the spherical mirror, there
are four basic properties of images, described in the table below.

Object Image Relative

Lens Type Orientation Application
location location size
CONVERGING Infinity At F Real Inverted Smaller Telescope
Between
Beyond
CONVERGING F and Real Inverted Smaller Camera
2F
2F
Same
CONVERGING At 2F At 2F Real Inverted Copier
size
Between Beyond
CONVERGING Real Inverted Larger Projector
F and 2F 2F
At No No
CONVERGING At F No image Lighthouse
infinity image image
Same
Closer Magnifying
CONVERGING side of Virtual Upright Larger
than F glass
lens
Same
DIVERGING Anywhere side of Virtual Upright Smaller
lens

• Note that the above analysis is applicable for THIN lenses - where
the height of the lens is much larger than the maximum thickness of the
lens. A more complex analysis must be considered for lenses which do
not satisfy this condition - THICK lenses. Lenses in high-end optical
instruments are typically thick lenses.

• The diopter is a measure of the focal length of a lens used by

opticians. Its is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens
(measured in metres). For example a lens with a focal length of 50 cm
has a diopter value of 2.
Simple lens and compound lens are the two classifications of lenses. Simple
lenses are different from compound lenses based on their surface of curvature.
Following are the different types of simple lenses.

Compound lenses are those constructed out of a combination of different simple

lenses. The lens types used to build a compound lens may have different
refractive indices and other properties. The placement of lenses are such that
they lie on a single axis, and properties like focal length are calculated again for
the new compound lens.
Other Lens Types are:

• Cylindrical – curvature in one direction

• Fresnel – narrow ring-like surface
• Lenticular – a group of micro-lenses
• Gradient Index – flat surfaces but with varying refractive indices
• Axicon – conical surface