Where does all the bad light end up?

In a prism…

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 18 September 2019

Lenses

Objectives
To understand the nature of the
image produced in converging
lens and to understand the uses
of a converging lens in a camera.
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OUTCOMES

• ALL MUST be able to draw ray diagrams

for converging and diverging lenses.
• MOST SHOULD be able to describe how
to make converging lenses stronger.
• SOME COULD explain how lenses are
used in cameras.

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What are lenses?
Lenses alter the path of any light rays passing through
them, refracting them toward or away from a single point.
Lenses must be made of a transparent medium with a
curved surface. It is the curve of the lens that determines
the amount of refraction.
There are two major types of lens,
concave and convex, both of which
have many uses in modern life.

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Convex lenses
A convex lens bulges in the centre.
Convex lenses are also called converging
lenses. This means that they refract
light rays towards a single point.
The point at which the rays cross over is determined by the
distance between the lens and the light source.
Uses for convex lenses include:

spectacles for camera magnifying

eye long sight lens glass

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How do convex lenses work?

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Convex lenses and parallel rays
For light rays to be parallel when they enter the
lens, the object must be an infinite distance away.
A convex lens will cause such parallel rays to converge
at the focal point (F).

The position of an
object relative to this
point is crucial when
trying to establish the
type of image formed
by a convex lens.

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Concave lenses
A concave lens is one which tapers inwards
at its centre.
Concave lenses are also called diverging
lenses. This means the lens refracts light
away from a single point.
Uses for concave lenses include:
spectacles for
short sight

How would a concave lens correct this

eye’s short sightedness?

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Focal length of a concave lens
To find the focal length of a concave lens, rays parallel to
the principal axis must be directed through it.
As the rays diverge, we must trace their path backwards
to find the point where they cross over.

This is the focal point (F),

while the distance from
the focal point to the
centre of the lens is the
focal length (ƒ).

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Investigating converging lenses

Aim
To help you to understand the behaviour of converging lenses.
Method
You can investigate the image formed by a converging lens using the equipment shown below.

Put a brightly lit object at one end of a metre rule, with the lens in the middle. Use a piece of card with graph paper stuck on as a
screen – move the card and the lens until the image on the screen is in focus. Investigate how the image changes as the position
of the lens is changed.
Results
Result no. Distance of object Distance of image Size of object (cm) Size of image
(cm) (cm) (cm)
1
2
3
4
5

Analysis
Plot a graph of magnification on the y-axis against image distance on the x-axis. Draw the line of best fit and work out the gradient.

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Plenary
1) copy and complete:
• Lenses work by changing the ……… of light because of refraction.
• Converging lenses make parallel rays converge to a ………. The
point where the rays focus to is called the principle focus of the
lens.
• A diverging lens makes ……… rays diverge (spread out). The
……… where the rays appear to come from is called the principle
focus of the lens.
• The ………….. from the centre of the lens to the principle focus is
called the focal length.
direction point distance focus parallel
2) Copy the diagram for a converging lens below.
3) Copy the diverging lens and complete the diagram by showing
how the light is spread out.

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3

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Plenary

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