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Ray Diagram Convex Lens

This tutorial outlines the steps for drawing a ray diagram for a convex lens when the object is positioned beyond the 2F point. It explains how to draw incident rays, apply the rules of refraction, and locate the image formed by the lens, which will be inverted and smaller than the object. The document also discusses variations in image formation based on the object's position relative to the focal point and the lens.

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Frank Gerardo Torres Aranguren
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67 views4 pages

Ray Diagram Convex Lens

This tutorial outlines the steps for drawing a ray diagram for a convex lens when the object is positioned beyond the 2F point. It explains how to draw incident rays, apply the rules of refraction, and locate the image formed by the lens, which will be inverted and smaller than the object. The document also discusses variations in image formation based on the object's position relative to the focal point and the lens.

Uploaded by

Frank Gerardo Torres Aranguren
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tutorial: Ray Diagram for Convex Lenses

Here we describe the method of drawing a ray diagram for a convex lens, for which the object is
located beyond the 2F point of the lens.

1. Pick a point o the top of the object and draw three incident rays traveling towards the lens.
a. Draw one ray so that it passes through the focal point on its way to the lens.
b. Draw a 2nd ray such that it travels parallel to the principal axis.
c. Draw a 3rd ray such that it travels directly to the center of the lens.
d. Place arrowheads on the rays to indicate their direction of travel.

2. Once these incident rays strike the lens, refract them according to the three rules of refraction
for converging lenses.

a. The ray that passes through the focal point on the way to the lens will refract and travel
parallel to the principal axis.
b. The ray that traveled parallel to the principal axis on the way to the lens will refract and
travel through the focal point.
c. The ray that traveled to the center of the lens will continue in the same direction.
d. Place arrowheads upon the rays to indicate their direction of travel.
e. Extend the rays past their point of intersection.
3. Mark the image of the top of the object.

The image point of the top of the object is the point where all three refracted rays intersect. All
three rays should intersect at exactly the same point. (Of course, the rest of the object has an
image as well. This can be found by applying the same three steps to another chosen point.)

4. Repeat the process for the bottom of the object

If the bottom of the object is located on the principal axes (as it does in this example), then the
image of this point will also lie on the principal axis, and will be the same distance from the lens
as the image of the top of the object. At
At this point the entire image can be filled in.

5. The ray diagram above illustrates that when the object is located at a position beyond the 2F
point, the image will be located at a position between the 2F point and the focal point on the
opposite side of the lens. Furthermore, the image will be inverted, reduced in size (smaller than
the object), and real. This is the type of information that we wish to obtain from a ray diagram.
6. Practice drawing ray diagrams for the following two situations:
a. The object is located at the 2F point (that is twice the focal length away from the lens)
b. The object is located between the 2F point and the focal point F.

It should be noted that the process of constructing a ray diagram is the same regardless of
where the object is located. While the result of the ray diagram (image location, size,
orientation, and type) is different, the same three rays are always drawn. The three rules of
refraction are applied in order to determine the location where all refracted rays intersect.

7. Ray diagram for an object located in front of the focal point.

Observe that in this case the light rays diverge after refracting through the lens. In that case the
image location can be found by tracing all light rays backwards until they intersect.
Since the light does not actually pass through the lens, the image is referred to as virtual image.
Observe, that when the object is located in front of the focal point of a converging lens, its image is an
upright and enlarged image that is located on the same side of the lens as the object.
8. Ray diagram for an object located at the focal point.

For the case of the object being located at the focal point F, the light rays neither converge nor
diverge after refracting through the lens. As shown in the diagram, the refracted rays are
traveling parallel to each other. Thus, the light rays will not converge to form a real or virtual
image, and there is no image. When an object is located at the focal point, there is no location
in space, at which an observer can see from where all the refracted rays appear to be coming.
Thus, and image cannot be found.

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