OTHER OPTICAL
INSTRUMENT
Optical instruments make possible
access to the world beyond huma
vision
Human eye has some limitations. Several
instruments were created in line with the
principles of refraction by lenses and reflection
by mirrors to make up for these limitations.
Optical
Instruments
•CAMERA
•MICROSCOPE
•TELESCOPE
C AMERA
The camera is mankind’s solution to the eyes incapacity to
capture an image permanently that formed in the retina.
The camera obscura, which literally means “dark
chamber” is the predecessor of our modern-day
camera.
Roger Bacon, an englissh philosopher and scientist, was
believed to have invented this instrument in 1267 and Joseph
Nicephore Niepce a French scientist and inventor in 1826
created the first photographic camera.
The camera is considered as a mechanical eye. The camera,
whether simple or advanced, is very similar to the eye in
terms of essential structures and function.
The table below compares the eye and the
camera.
Comparison Between the Eye and the Camera
Function Eye Camera
Opening for light to enter Pupil Aperture
Regulation of size of Muscle of the iris Diaphragm
opening
Refracting system Cornea, lens, vitreous and Biconvex lens
aqueous humor
Where image is formed Retina Film/Digital sensory array
like CCD or CMOS
Regulation of time of Eyelid Shutter
exposure to light
Focusing mechanism Contraction or relaxation Adjustment in lens-to-film
of ciliary muscles to distance
change the shape of lens
The primary distinction between conventional and digital
cameras lies in the storage medium and image capacity. Unlike
a 35mm camera limited to 36 exposures, a digital camera
utilizes a digital sensor array, such as CCD or CMOS, converting
light to electrical charges. The digital sensor consists of millions
of pixel arranged in rows and columns, determining the
camera’s resolution, like a 3 Megapixel camera with 3000×1000
pixels . Unlike film cameras, digital cameras offer immediate
access to captured images without the need for film
development.
Furthermore, a digital camera is
provided with a video monitor for
instant viewing of each picture
taken.
Greater magnification is achieved with short-focused
objective and eyepiece lenses. The compound
microscope, invented by Hans and Zacharias Jannsen
in 1590, has evolved into specialized types like the
polarizing microscope 1833, using polarized light, the
ultraviolet microscope for studying cellular
components, and electron microscopes 1931 with a
beam for high magnification up to 200,000 times and
3D imaging. Ernst Ruska and Max Knoll developed the
first electron microscope. Later innovations include
the scanning tunneling microscope and atomic force
microscope in the 1890’s.
Mo= linear magnification of the
objective
Me= angular magnification of the
eyepiece
fo = focal length of objective
fe= focal length of eyepiece.
Greater magnification is achieved with short-focused objective
and eyepiece lenses. The compound microscope, invented by
Hans and Zacharias Jannsen in 1590, has evolved into
specialized types like the polarizing microscope 1833, using
polarized light, the ultraviolet microscope for studying cellular
components, and electron microscopes 1931 with a beam for
high magnification up to 200,000 times and 3D imaging. Ernst
Ruska and Max Knoll developed the first electron microscope.
Later innovations include the scanning tunneling microscope
and atomic force microscope in the 1980s.
T elescope
Telescope is a device that enables us to see distant objects. It exists in two types-
refracting and reflecting telescope.
The first type to be invented, a refracting telescope makes use of lenses for its
objective and eyepiece. History claims that the telescope was accidentally
invented by the Dutch Lensmaker, Hans Lippershey, in 1608. He called his
invention "look glass" and applied for a patent. However, Galileo made his own
version of the telescope, which he called "far looker," by using a converging lens
for the objective and a diverging lens for the eyepiece. He was believed to be the
first to point a telescope to the sky to study the moons of Jupiter.
Refracting telescope works in the same way as a compound microscope.
The object being viewed usually far away, and hence the first image is
formed just beyond the principal focus of the objective first image is real,
inverted, and smaller. It normally lies just inside the focal point of the
eyepiece.
The eyepiece, acting like a magnifying glass, produces a magnified virtual
final image at infinity. The balance between the two lenses is therefore the
length of the telescope and is equal to the sum of the final lengths of the
two lenses. The magnification of the telescope is the ratio of the focal length
of the objective to that of the eyepiece.
To achieve greater magnification, the objective must be a long- focused
lens. The eyepiece, on the other hand, must have a short focal length.
The telescopes of Lippershey and Galileo produced hazy or hizzy images and
suffered from chromatic aberration. To improve these telescopes, Isaac Newton
invented the reflecting telescope in 1668. Instead of a converging lens, a
concave mirror was used as the objective.
Telescopes may be terrestrial or orbiting in space. The largest terrestrial refracting
telescope is at Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin, while the largest terrestrial
reflecting telescope is the W. M. Keck in Hawaii. The Hubble Space Telescope, named
after Edwin Hubble, was inched in space in 1990 and is in orbit about 580 km above
Earth.
Problem Solving
A compound microscope is to be constructed using
an objective and an eyepiece with 0.40 cm and 3.0
cm focal length, respectively. The two lenses are
separated by 20 cm. (a) Determine the angular
magnification of the microscope, and (b) compare
this magnification with that obtained using the
eyepiece alone as a magnifying glass.
Problem
Solving
A physics student was tasked to make a
telescope out of old glass lenses having
these focal lengths 4.0 cm, 8.0 cm, 9.0 cm,
12.0 cm, and 16.0 cm. Which combination
will produce the mum magnification? What
is the value of this magnification?
