3/10/2017 ConvergingLensesRayDiagrams

ConvergingLensesRayDiagrams
TheAnatomyofaLens
RefractionbyLenses
ImageFormationRevisited
ConvergingLensesRayDiagrams
ConvergingLensesObjectImageRelations
DivergingLensesRayDiagrams
DivergingLensesObjectImageRelations
TheMathematicsofLenses

OnethemeoftheReflectionandRefractionunitsofThePhysicsClassroomTutorialhasbeenthatwe
seeanobjectbecauselightfromtheobjecttravelstooureyesaswesightalongalineattheobject.
Similarly,weseeanimageofanobjectbecauselightfromtheobjectreflectsoffamirrororrefracts
throughatransparentmaterialandtraveltooureyesaswesightattheimagelocationoftheobject.
Fromthesetwobasicpremises,wehavedefinedtheimagelocationasthelocationinspacewherelight
appearstodivergefrom.Becauselightemanatingfromtheobjectconvergesorappearstodivergefrom
thislocation,areplicaorlikenessoftheobjectiscreatedatthislocation.Forbothreflectionand
refractionscenarios,raydiagramshavebeenavaluabletoolfordeterminingthepathoflightfromthe
objecttooureyes.

ApplyingtheThreeRulesofRefraction
InthissectionofLesson5,wewillinvestigatethemethodfordrawingraydiagramsforobjectsplaced
atvariouslocationsinfrontofadoubleconvexlens.Todrawtheseraydiagrams,wewillhavetorecall
thethree rulesofrefractionforadoubleconvexlens:
Anyincidentraytravelingparalleltotheprincipalaxisofaconverginglenswillrefractthroughthe
lensandtravelthroughthefocalpointontheoppositesideofthelens.
Anyincidentraytravelingthroughthefocalpointonthewaytothelenswillrefractthroughthelens
andtravelparalleltotheprincipalaxis.
Anincidentraythatpassesthroughthecenterofthelenswillineffectcontinueinthesame
directionthatithadwhenitenteredthelens.
Earlierinthislesson,thefollowingdiagramillustratingthepathoflightfromanobjectthroughalensto
aneyeplacedatvariouslocationswasshown.

Inthisdiagram,fiveincidentraysaredrawnalongwiththeircorrespondingrefractedrays.Eachray
intersectsattheimagelocationandthentravelstotheeyeofanobserver.Everyobserverwould
observethesameimagelocationandeverylightraywouldfollowtheSnell'sLawofrefraction.Yetonly
twooftheserayswouldbeneededtodeterminetheimagelocationsinceitonlyrequirestworaysto
findtheintersectionpoint.Ofthefiveincidentraysdrawn,threeofthemcorrespondtotheincidentrays
rules
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theremainderofthislesson,merelybecausetheyaretheeasiestraystodraw.Certainlytworayswould
beallthatisnecessaryyetthethirdraywillprovideacheckoftheaccuracyofourprocess.

StepbyStepMethodforDrawingRayDiagrams
Themethodofdrawingraydiagramsfordoubleconvexlensisdescribedbelow.Thedescriptionis
appliedtothetaskofdrawingaraydiagramforanobjectlocated beyond
the2Fpointofadouble
convexlens.
1.Pickapointonthetopoftheobjectanddrawthreeincidentrays
travelingtowardsthelens.

Usingastraightedge,accuratelydrawoneraysothatitpasses
exactlythroughthefocalpointonthewaytothelens.Drawthe
secondraysuchthatittravelsexactlyparalleltotheprincipalaxis.
Drawthethirdincidentraysuchthatittravelsdirectlytotheexact
centerofthelens.Placearrowheadsupontheraystoindicatetheir
directionoftravel.

2.Oncetheseincidentraysstrikethelens,refractthemaccordingto
thethree rules
ofrefractionforconverginglenses.

Theraythatpassesthroughthefocalpointonthewaytothelens
willrefractandtravelparalleltotheprincipalaxis.Useastraight
edgetoaccuratelydrawitspath.Theraythattraveledparallelto
theprincipalaxisonthewaytothelenswillrefractandtravel
throughthefocalpoint.Andtheraythattraveledtotheexact
centerofthelenswillcontinueinthesamedirection.Place
arrowheadsupontheraystoindicatetheirdirectionoftravel.Extendtherayspasttheirpoint
ofintersection.

3.Marktheimageofthetopoftheobject.

Theimagepointofthetopoftheobjectisthepointwherethe
threerefractedraysintersect.Allthreeraysshouldintersectat
exactlythesamepoint.Thispointismerelythepointwhereall
lightfromthetopoftheobjectwouldintersectuponrefracting
throughthelens.Ofcourse,therestoftheobjecthasanimageas
wellanditcanbefoundbyapplyingthesamethreestepsto
anotherchosenpoint.(Seenotebelow.)

4.Repeattheprocessforthebottomoftheobject.

Onegoalofaraydiagramistodeterminethelocation,size,
orientation,andtypeofimagethatisformedbythedoubleconvex
lens.Typically,thisrequiresdeterminingwheretheimageofthe
upperandlowerextremeoftheobjectislocatedandthentracing
theentireimage.Aftercompletingthefirstthreesteps,onlythe
imagelocationofthetopextremeoftheobjecthasbeenfound.
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Thus,theprocessmustberepeatedforthepointonthebottomof
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theobject.Ifthebottomoftheobjectliesupontheprincipalaxis(asitdoesinthisexample),
thentheimageofthispointwillalsolieupontheprincipalaxisandbethesamedistancefrom
themirrorastheimageofthetopoftheobject.Atthispointtheentireimagecanbefilledin.

Somestudentshavedifficultyunderstandinghowtheentireimageofanobjectcanbededucedoncea
singlepointontheimagehasbeendetermined.Iftheobjectismerelyaverticalobject(suchasthe
arrowobjectusedintheexamplebelow),thentheprocessiseasy.Theimageismerelyaverticalline.
Intheory,itwouldbenecessarytopickeachpointontheobjectanddrawaseparateraydiagramto
determinethelocationoftheimageofthatpoint.Thatwouldrequirealotofraydiagramsasillustrated
inthediagrambelow.

Fortunately,ashortcutexists.Iftheobjectisaverticalline,thentheimageisalsoaverticalline.For
ourpurposes,wewillonlydealwiththesimplersituationsinwhichtheobjectisaverticallinethathas
itsbottomlocatedupontheprincipalaxis.Forsuchsimplifiedsituations,theimageisaverticallinewith
thelowerextremitylocatedupontheprincipalaxis.
Theraydiagramaboveillustratesthatwhentheobjectislocatedataposition beyond
the2Fpoint,the
imagewillbelocatedatapositionbetweenthe2Fpointandthefocalpointontheoppositesideofthe
lens.Furthermore,theimagewillbeinverted,reducedinsize(smallerthantheobject),andreal.Thisis
thetypeofinformationthatwewishtoobtainfromaraydiagram.Thesecharacteristicsoftheimage
willbediscussedinmoredetailinthenextsectionofLesson5.
Oncethemethodofdrawingraydiagramsispracticedacoupleoftimes,itbecomesasnaturalas
breathing.Eachdiagramyieldsspecificinformationabouttheimage.Thetwodiagramsbelowshowhow
todetermineimagelocation,size,orientationandtypeforsituationsinwhichtheobjectislocatedatthe
2Fpointandwhentheobjectislocatedbetweenthe2Fpointandthefocalpoint.

Itshouldbenotedthattheprocessofconstructingaraydiagramisthesameregardlessofwherethe
objectislocated.Whiletheresultoftheraydiagram(imagelocation,size,orientation,andtype)is
different,thesamethreeraysarealwaysdrawn.Thethreerulesofrefractionareappliedinorderto
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determinethelocationwhereallrefractedraysappeartodivergefrom(whichforrealimages,isalso
thelocationwheretherefractedraysintersect).

RayDiagramforObjectLocatedinFrontoftheFocalPoint
Inthethreecasesdescribedabovethecaseoftheobjectbeinglocatedbeyond2F,thecaseofthe
objectbeinglocatedat2F,andthecaseoftheobjectbeinglocatedbetween2FandFlightraysare
convergingtoapointafterrefractingthroughthelens.Insuchcases,arealimageisformed.As
discussedpreviously,arealimageisformedwheneverrefractedlightpassesthroughtheimage
location.Whilediverginglensesalwaysproducevirtualimages,converginglensesarecapableof
producingbothrealandvirtualimages.Asshownabove,realimagesareproducedwhentheobjectis
locatedadistancegreaterthanonefocallengthfromthelens.Avirtualimageisformediftheobject
islocatedlessthanonefocallengthfromtheconverginglens.Toseewhythisisso,araydiagramcan
beused.
Araydiagramforthecaseinwhichtheobjectislocated infront
ofthefocalpointisshowninthediagramattheright.Observethatin
thiscasethelightraysdivergeafterrefractingthroughthelens.When
refractedraysdiverge,avirtualimageisformed.Theimagelocation
canbefoundbytracingalllightraysbackwardsuntiltheyintersect.
Foreveryobserver,therefractedrayswouldseemtobediverging
fromthispointthus,thepointofintersectionoftheextended
refractedraysistheimagepoint.Sincelightdoesnotactuallypass
throughthispoint,theimageisreferredtoasavirtualimage.
Observethatwhentheobjectinlocated infrontof thefocalpointof
theconverginglens,itsimageisanuprightandenlargedimagethatis
locatedontheobject'ssideofthelens.Infact,onegeneralization
thatcanbemadeaboutallvirtualimagesproducedbylenses(both
converginganddiverging)isthattheyarealwaysuprightandalwayslocatedontheobject'ssideofthe
lens.

RayDiagramforObjectLocatedattheFocalPoint
Thusfarwehaveseenviaraydiagramsthatarealimageisproducedwhenanobjectislocatedmore
thanonefocallengthfromaconverginglensandavirtualimageisformedwhenanobjectislocated
lessthanonefocallengthfromaconverginglens(i.e., infrontofF
).Butwhathappenswhentheobject
islocatedatF?Thatis,whattypeofimageisformedwhentheobjectislocatedexactlyonefocallength
fromaconverginglens?Ofcoursearaydiagramisalwaysonetooltohelpfindtheanswertosucha
question.However,whenaraydiagramisusedforthiscase,animmediatedifficultyisencountered.
Thediagrambelowshowstwoincidentraysandtheircorrespondingrefractedrays.

Forthecaseoftheobjectlocatedatthefocalpoint(F),thelightraysneitherconvergenordivergeafter
refractingthroughthelens.Asshowninthediagramabove,therefractedraysaretravelingparallelto
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eachother.Subsequently,thelightrayswillnotconvergetoformarealimagenorcantheybe
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extendedbackwardsontheoppositesideofthelenstointersecttoformavirtualimage.Sohowshould
theresultsoftheraydiagrambeinterpreted?Theanswer:thereisnoimage!!Surprisingly,whenthe
objectislocatedatthefocalpoint,thereisnolocationinspaceatwhichanobservercansightfrom
whichalltherefractedraysappeartobecoming.Animagecannotbefoundwhentheobjectislocated
atthefocalpointofaconverginglens.

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