ASHISH PUJARI

Refraction through a Lens

➢ A lens is a transparent refracting medium bounded by two curved surfaces which are generally spherical.
Lenses are of two types: convex or converging lens and concave or diverging lens.
➢ Refraction of light through the convex and concave lenses:

➢ Action of a lens as a set of prisms:

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➢ Centre of curvature: The centre of the sphere, whose part is the lens surface, is called the centre of curvature
of that surface of the lens. Note: For a convex lens, C1 is to the right of the lens while C2 is to the left. For
concave lens C1 is to the left of the lens while C2 is to the right.
➢ Radius of curvature: The radius of the sphere, whose part is the lens surface, is called the radius of curvature
of that surface of lens.
➢ Principal axis: It is the line joining the centres of curvatures of the two surfaces of the lens.
➢ Optical centre: Optical centre of a thin lens is the point on the principal axis of the lens through which a ray of
light passes undeviated.
➢ If the medium on both sides of the lens is same, the first and second focal lengths are equal.
➢ Focal length of lens depends on:
o The refractive index of material of lens relative to its surrounding medium. If a lens is placed in water its focal
length increases.
o The radii of curvature of the two surfaces of lens. A thick lens has less focal length than a thin lens of same
material.
➢ If a part of the lens is covered, its focal length remains unchanged, only the amount of light entering the lens
decreases due to which the position, size and nature of image formed by it remain unchanged, but the
intensity of image decreases.
➢ Difference between a convex and a concave lens:

Convex lens Concave lens

1 It is thick in the middle and thin at its It is thin in the middle and thick at its periphery.
periphery
2 It converges the incident rays towards the It diverges the incident rays away from the principal
principal axis. axis.
3 It has a real focus. It has a virtual focus.

➢ Distinction between a real and virtual image:

Real image Virtual image

1 A real image is formed due to actual A virtual image is formed when the rays refracted by the
intersection of the rays refracted by the lens appear to meet if they are produced backwards.
lens.
2 Areal image can be obtained on a screen. A virtual image cannot be obtained on a screen.
3 A real image is inverted with respect to the A virtual image is erect with respect to the object. E.g.
object. E.g. The image of a distant object The image of an object formed by a concave lens and
formed by a convex lens. mirror

➢ To differentiate between a convex and a concave lens:

o By touching: If the lens is thick in the middle and thin at the edges, then lens is convex and if the lens is thin
in the middle and thick at the edges, the lens is concave.
o By seeing the image: (a) on keeping the lens near a printed page, if letters appear magnified, the lens is
convex and if the letters appear diminished, the lens is concave. (b) On seeing a distant object through the
lens, if its inverted image is seen, the lens is convex and if the upright image is seen, the lens is concave.

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➢ Formation of image by a convex lens and its characteristics:
o When the object is at infinity.

The image is at the focus It is real, inverted& highly diminished. Used either as a burning glass or a camera lens.

o When the object is beyond 2F1

The image is between F2 and 2F2 . It is real, inverted &diminished. Used in camera lens

o When the object is at 2F1

The image is at 2F2 . It is real, inverted, & of the same size as the object. Used in a terrestrial telescope.

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o When the object is between F1 and 2F2 .

The image is beyond 2F2 on the other side of the lens. It is real, inverted, & magnified. Used in cinema and slide
projectors.

o When the object is at F1

The image is at infinity. It is real, inverted, & highly magnified. Used in the collimator of a spectrometer

o When the object is between O and F1

The image is on the same side and behind the object. It is a virtual, erect & magnified. Used as a reading lens, a
simple microscope.

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➢ Relative positions of the object and image in a convex lens

Position of object Position of image Size of image Nature of Application

image
1 At infinity At F2 Highly Real & Burning glass
diminished inverted
2 Beyond 2F1 Between F2 & 2F2 Diminished Real & Camera lens
inverted
3 At 2F1 At 2F2 Same size Real & Terrestrial
inverted telescope
4 Between F1 & 2F1 Beyond 2F2 Magnified Real & Slide
inverted projector
5 At F1 At infinity Highly Real & Collimator of
magnified inverted spectrometer
6 Between the lens and On same side, behind the magnified Virtual and Magnifying
F1 object upright glass
➢ Formation of image by a convex lens and its characteristics:
o When the object is at infinity.

The image is at second focus F2 . It is virtual, erect, & highly diminished. It is used in Galilean telescope.

o When the object is between infinity and the optical centre of the concave lens.

The image is between the lens and focus on the side of object. It is virtual, erect, & diminished. It is used in
spectacles.

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➢ Formation of image by a concave lens and its characteristics:

Position of the object Position of the image Nature of the image Size of the
image
1 At infinity At the focus, on the same side Virtual and upright Highly
of the lens as the object. diminished
2 At any position between infinity Between the focus and optical Virtual and upright Diminished
and optical centre centre, on the same side of
the lens as the object
➢ Difference between the image formed by a convex and a concave lens
Image by a convex lens Image by a concave lens
1 Image can be real as well as virtual. It is real if The image is always virtual for all positions of the
the object is place beyond focus while it is Object.
virtual if the object is placed between F and O.
2 The image can be magnified, of same size as The image is always diminished
Well as diminished.
3 The image can be inverted as well as erect. The image is always erect.

➢ Experimental determination of focal length of a convex lens:

o Estimation of focal length by the distant object method
o By auxillary plane mirror method.

1 1 1
➢ Lens formula: = −
𝑓 𝑣 𝑢
𝐼 𝑣
➢ Linear magnification: 𝑚 = 𝑂 = 𝑢
➢ Magnification is negative for real images and positive for virtual images.

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➢ Power of lens: the deviation produced by a lens in the path of rays refracted through it, is measure of its
power.
➢ Shorter the focal length more is the power of lens.
➢ Power of lens is measured in dioptre. (D)
1
➢ 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 (𝐷) = 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑚)
➢ If a lens deviates a ray of light towards its centre, the power is positive and if it deviates away from its centre,
the power is negative. Therefore, the power of a convex lens is positive and of concave lens is negative.
➢ If two thin lenses are placed in contact, the combination has a power equal to the sum of the powers of the
individual lens. If a convex lens of power +5D is kept in contact with a concave lens of power – 5D, the
resultant power of the combination will be zero and it will behave like a glass plate.
➢ Application of lenses: convex lens is used in telescope, camera, slide projector, spectacles, magnifying glass,
spectroscope, etc.
➢ Concave lens is used in Galilean telescope.
➢ How to differentiate between concave and convex lens by seeing its image: keep the lens near a printed page,
if letters appear magnified and erect then the lens is convex. If the letters appear diminished and erect then
then lens is concave.

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