Converging and diverging lenses
Principal axis
The straight line that goes through the centre
of the lens at right angles to the lens surface
Focal point
Rays parallel to the principal axis, after being
refracted by the lens, will all pass through a
point on the principal axis called the focal
point.
Focal length
The distance from the focal point to the
centre of the lens (denoted by the symbol f)
Ray diagrams
Standard ray 1
A ray parallel to the principal axis will go
through the focal point.
Standard ray 2
A ray passing through the left focal point will
emerge parallel to the principal axis
Standard ray 3
A ray passing through the centre of the lens
will emerge undeflected
Ray diagrams
With the help of these 3 standard rays we can
find the image of any object placed in front of
a convex lens
Real and virtual images
• A real image is where the rays actually pass
through the image and it can be projected and
seen on a screen
Real and virtual images
• A virtual image is where no rays of light pass
through, only their mathematical extensions.
It cannot be displayed on a screen
Thin lens formula
Thin lens formula
• f is positive for a converging lens
• u is positive
• v is positive for real images and negative for
virtual images
• M > 0 means the image is upright
• M < 0 means the image is inverted
Linear magnification
Linear magnification is defined as the ratio of
the image height to the object height
Example problem
• A converging lens has a focal length of 15cm.
An object is placed 60 cm from the lens.
Determine the image.
Example problem
• A converging lens has a focal length of 15cm. An
object is placed 60 cm from the lens. Determine
the image.
• f = 0.15, u = 0.6
• 1/f = 1/u + 1/v
• 1/v = 1/f – 1/u = 1/0.15 – 1/0.6 = 1/0.2
• v = 0.2 m
• The image is real (positive v), m = -0.2/0.6 = -1/3
which means the image is inverted and smaller
than the object.
