Module 10: Lens and Images

Lens and Images
Module 10

For the final lab, you will investigate the formation of images by light traveling through a glass lens and the formation of images from light reflecting off of the front and back surfaces of the lens. Its a two-for-one lab where you will observe refraction and reflection.

You will need the additional materials you were asked to obtain in the syllabus. Further, you will be making a homemade optics bench using cardboard and a knife/multitool/scissors.

Objectives

 By following the instructions in the lab, and answering the comprehension questions, you will:

• Build an optics bench to analyze optical images cast by a lens,
• Locate the images produced by a converging lens and determine object and image distances,
• Predict the focal lengths of the converging lens, the radius of curvature, and the focal length for the reflections off the front surface of the lens,
• Predict the modified focal length for reflections off the back side of the lens considering the reflection and refraction of light rays when casting an image,
• Apply the ray model of light to propose explanations for the observed effects of apertures.

Read the Lab Document Download Lab Document

 The lab document Download lab document

will serve as a review of the production of images by both lens and mirrors. The conventions used to diagram the location of object and image vary across textbooks, (s', d_i, q all represent image distance in different texts) so please keep this in mind when working through the lab. 

The apparatus will take about 20 minutes to build and you will at times need a darkened room to observe the faint images produced by the lens.

Lab Set Up and Data Collection