THE PHYSICS BEHIND VISION

CORRECTION AND
SUNGLASSES
Myra Malik 11S1
Teacher: Rahul Gupta Sir
INDEX

• Introduction page 3

• How We See page 4

• Vision Correction page 7

• How Sunglasses Work page 10

• Conclusion page 11

• Bibliography page 12

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INTRODUCTION

Not everybody has perfect eyesight. Many people, such as myself, need their
vision to be corrected in order to see perfectly. Having had glasses for several
years now, I’ve wondered before how these lenses play a role in fixing my
vision.

In this project, I’ll be taking a look at the physics behind how the human eye
works and how imperfect vision is corrected. There are several different causes
for impaired vision, of which I will explore four most common ones.

As a related topic, I will also be exploring the working of sunglasses and how
they prevent too much light from passing through.

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HOW WE SEE
The eyes are the part of the body responsible for vision. Let’s look at a simple
diagram of the eye to see how we are able to perceive our surroundings.

Light rays enter our eye through the cornea. The cornea, being refractive, bends
the rays so they can pass through the pupil, which is in the center of the iris.
Depending on how much light is in our surroundings, the iris of the eye can
contract or expand to allow either more or less light to enter the eye and enable
us to see in different lighting conditions.

Once the light rays have passed through the pupil, they must now pass through
the eye’s natural lens. The lens present in the eye is convex in nature. It is able
to change its shape, therefore increasing or decreasing its focal length. In this
manner, it is able to properly focus the light rays on the back of the eye.

The eye itself contains a transparent, viscous medium known as the vitreous.
This helps the eye hold its spherical shape.

In the case of an eye with perfect vision, the rays come to a sharp point on the
retina. A few ray diagrams will help us visualize this better.

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Here we see a ray diagram of an eye perceiving a distant object. The focal
length of the lens of the eye is made large by the relaxation of ciliary muscles,
allowing the image to form a point at the back of the eye without the rays
bending much.

In the case of a nearby object, the focal length is made smaller by contraction of
the ciliary muscles, so the rays can bend more to come to focus at the back of
the eye.

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However not everyone has perfect vision. In some abnormal cases, the image
does not focus properly at the back of the eye. It is either formed before or after,
which leads to the person needing vision correction in the form of glasses or
contact lenses.

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VISION CORRECTION

Myopia
(also known as near-sightedness)

Myopia is the inability to see distant objects. Close objects are clear and
focussed, however distant objects appear blurry. This happens when the lens of
the eye converges the rays too much. Before, in the distant object diagram, we
saw that the focal length had to be large so as to converge the rays a small
amount. For those with myopia, this focal length does not become so large but
remains small. As a result, the image forms BEFORE the retina, resulting in
blurry vision. This can also occur if length of the eye is too long, which also
prevents the image from forming at the back of the eye. The diagram is as
depicted below.

When a problem like this arises, the patient is given glasses with a concave lens.
That way, the light rays are first diverged. Since the lens of the eye was over
converging the rays previously, the now diverged rays will be converged to the
correct extent.

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The focal length of the concave lens for the glasses of course varies depending
on the how much the lens of the eye is converging the rays, but this is the
principle behind vision correction in the case of myopia.

Hyperopia
(also known as hypermetropia or farsightedness)

Hyperopia (or hypermetropia or farsightedness) is the exact opposite of myopia.

The rays converge beyond the posterior surface of the eye, resulting once again
in blurry vision, but for objects thar are close by because those objects require
more convergence of rays. This occurs due to the larger focus length of the eye
lens and therefore under converging, or if the eye is too short.

As seen above, the rays do not converge at the point they are supposed to, but
instead they converge beyond it due to the larger focal length of the eye. This
can be corrected with a convex lens placed in front of the eye to help the rays
converge more when necessary.

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Astigmatism

In normal cases of the eye, as well as the abnormal ones previously discussed,
the rays of light always bend or refract evenly due to the smooth surface of the
lens. However, if the lens is not perfectly spherical, the light that enters can be
refracted in several directions rather than just one.

As seen here, several images

can form due to this
imperfection in the lens or
cornea of the eye. This results
in distortion.

The correction for this type of

vision impairment is not as
simple as that of myopia or
hyperopia, but can be done
through specially made
eyeglasses, surgery, or shape
correcting contact lenses.

Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a combination of both myopia and hyperopia. A person with

presbyopia needs a corrective lens that can enable them to see both nearby and
distant objects. This lens is also known as a bifocal lens. A bifocal lens consists
of both a convex and concave part, so that the person can look through either
segment depending on whether they need to see objects at a distance or nearby.

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HOW SUNGLASSES WORK

Light waves from the sun and even light bulbs oscillate and radiate outward in
every direction. When the light is say reflected or refracted, it can happen that
the vibrations are aligned into one or many planes of direction. This light is
polarized light. Polarization can occur both naturally and artificially.
An example of a natural polarizing material is quartz.

When we feel the need to wear sunglasses, the glare that we’re looking to block
usually comes from horizontal
surfaces. When light strikes a
surface, the reflected waves
are polarized to have the angle
as that of that surface. Hence,
the polarized lenses in
sunglasses are attached at an
angle to allow only vertically
polarised light to enter.
This is how sunglasses work.

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CONCLUSION

Through my research for this project, I now have a thorough understanding of

how the eye works as well as how vision impairments like near and far-
sightedness can be fixed. I had never previously considered the physics behind
it, and I was pleased to discover that with just the high school understanding of
light propagation and lenses and with some research, I was able to understand
how something in my everyday life works.

I found the topic of polarization of light very interesting, especially in its

applications such as sunglasses.

I have learnt a lot from this project and I will certainly be delving deeper into
these fascinating topics when I get the chance.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Admin. “Astigmatism - Causes of Astigmatism and Types of Astigmatism: BYJU'S.”
BYJUS, BYJU'S, 17 Sept. 2020, byjus.com/physics/astigmatism-eye-defects/.
2. How Do Bifocal Eyeglasses Work?, www.glassescrafter.com/information/how-
bifocal-eyeglasses-
work.html#:~:text=Bifocal%20eye%20glasses%20work%20by,requiring%20both%2
0prescriptions%20is%20presbyopic.&text=Bifocal%20vision%20means%20a%20per
son,one%20to%20see%20up%20close.
3. Lhg-Admin. “How the Human Eye Works: Cornea Layers/Role: Light Rays.”
NKCF.org, NKCF.org, 26 Mar. 2019, nkcf.org/about-keratoconus/how-the-human-
eye-works/.
4. OpenStax. “Physics.” Lumen, courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/26-2-
vision-correction/.
5. Tyson, Jeff. “How Sunglasses Work.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 11
June 2021, science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-
innovations/sunglass6.htm.
6. What Are Lenses? Ohio Energy Project, ohioenergy.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/08/5L13-Light-What-Are-Lenses-Teacher-Handout.pdf.
7. Siletz, Ari. “The Physics of Polarizing Filters.” 20/20, 16 June 2014,
www.2020mag.com/article/the-physics-of-polarizing-filters.

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