PHYSICS

OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
By Mr Olaleke M.O
 OBJECTIVES:

• State all the optical instruments

• State the defects of eye, their causes and
corrections
• Compare and contrast the eye and cameral
• Trace the path of light rays through simple
and compound microscope
• Describe the principle of operation of
telescope
 OPTICAL INSTRUMENT
• An optical instrument is a device that
processes light waves either to enhance an
image for viewing or to analyze and
determine their characteristic properties.
Common examples include periscopes,
microscopes, telescopes, and cameras.
EXAMPLE OF AN OPTICAL
INSTRUMENT
 OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

• Optical instruments that can

form real images on the screen
are:
• The camera,
• the eye
• slide projector
THE CAMERA
 THE CAMERA

• Characteristics of image formed by cameral :

Real, Inverted, Diminished
• The camera consist of a light – tight box which
contains a convex lens in front and a film at the
opposite end
• The lens converges the incident rays from objects
• The film serves as a screen on which the image is
received
• Diaphragm controls the amount of light entering the
camera. This is made possible by the variable
aperture hole.
Shutter controls the amount of light entering the
camera. It has variable speed and therefore can
open for different lengths of time (exposure time)
The extent to which the diaphragm and the
shutter combine to determine the amount of light
entering the camera depends on:
Sensitivity of the film (ii) Brightness of the
object and (iii) Kind of effect that is wanted.
 THE PROJECTOR

The projector is an instrument for projecting on a screen an

enlarged image of transparent object such as a slide.
 THE HUMAN EYE

• The Features of Operations of the Human Eye

• The cornea is transparent and allows light rays to pass through
to meet the eye lens.
• The eye lens focuses the image of the object on the retina
• The sensitive retinal sends message to the brain by way of optic
nerve
•The pupil is a hole in the middle of
the iris. It appears black because no
light is reflected from it.
•The iris is the coloured portion of
the eye. It adjusts the size of the
pupil to vary the amount of light
that enter the eye through the
pupil.
• The cilliary muscle alters the focal
length of the eye lens in order to focus
images on the retina (an action referred
to as power of accommodation of the
eye).
• The aqueous humour is a transparent
liquid and fills the space between the
cornea and the lens
• The vitreous humour is a jelly-like
substance that fills the space between
 THE WORKING OF THE EYE

Light waves from the illuminated object enters the eye

and are focus on the retina after undergoing refraction
at the cornea, the aqueous humour, the lens, and
vitreous humour. The impulses are transmitted through
the optic nerves to the brain for interpretation. The brain
also inverts the image making it upright.
 THE WORKING OF THE EYE

• Light waves from the illuminated object

enters the eye and are focus on the
retina after undergoing refraction at the
cornea, the aqueous humour, the lens,
and vitreous humour. The impulses are
transmitted through the optic nerves to
the brain for interpretation. The brain
also inverts the image making it upright.
Near Point and Far Point
Near Point is the closest point the eye can see
clearly without strain. The near point for normal
adult is 25cm from the eye.
Far Point is the most distance point the eye can
see and sharp images on the retinal

Accommodation: This is the ability of the eye to

focus both near and far objects on the retina
through the action of the cilliary muscle by which
the focal length of the lens is altered.
• Binocular Vision: This is BINOCULAR VISION
the combination of the two
overlapping views of an
object seen by both eyes in
such a way as to create the
right sense of distance and
depth.
• By binocular vision we get a
proper perspective of an
object.
 PERSISTENCE OF VISION
• A clear image formed on the retina gives a sensation of
vision which remains for a short but definite time. The
retention of the vision of the image is known as the
persistence of vision.
• If different object, which vary slightly, are viewed one
after the other in quick succession, the impression of
an object seen by the eye remains on the retina for
1/16th of a second. If we see another object before this
time, the impressions of the two merge to give us a
sense of continuity.
• persistence of vision makes the still picture appear to
be moving. This phenomenon is made use of in the
production and showing of motion pictures.
https://mgmfilmarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/images-7.jpeg
 THE DEFECTS OF VISION

Short Sightedness (Myopia)

• Meaning: This is the ability of a person to see

near objects clearly but not distant objects.
This eye defect is called short-sightedness.
• Cause: It is caused by a person’s eye ball
being too long and so focus distant object in
front of the retina. The far point for the eye is
much nearer than the normal eyed.
 CORRECTION OF SHORT SIGHTEDNESS

• A short –sighted person should wear a concave

(diverging) spectacle lens. This spectacle lens (concave)
is used to form a virtual image of a distant object at the
person’s far point.
Parallel rays from a distant object appear to diverge so that the
eye lens can focus them on the retina to form a clear image.
 WORKED EXAMPLE

• Short sighted man cannot see clear object beyond

90cm from his eye. How can this defect be corrected?
• Solution
• The image of a distance object must be made appear
to be at 90cm in order to be seen.
• v = - 90cm u = (inifinity)
• = + , = + = , f = -90
• Correction is done with the use of diverging lens focal
length 90cm
 LONG-SIGHTEDNESS (HYPERMETROPIA)

• Meaning: This is the ability of a person to see

distant object clearly but not near object.
Common example is those who require glasses to
read but not to see distant object.
• Cause: It is caused by the person’s eye ball
being two short or eye lens being too thin or the
optical system of the eye being too weak so that
rays from the normal near point (25cm) are
brought to focus beyond, instead on the retina.
That is, rays from near objects focus behind the
retina.
 CORRECTION OF LONG-
SIGHTEDNESS
• A convex (converging) lens is used for the correction of
long-sight. The focal length should be such that it
would produce a virtual image of an object placed
25cm away at the person’s near point.
 WORKED EXAMPLE

•Find the focal length of the lens

require to correct the defect of
vision of a man whose near point is
50cm, assume the least distance of
vision of normal eye to be 25cm.
 SOLUTION

• For this man to see object clearly at 25cm

from the eye, the image must appear to be
at 25cm.
• v= -50cm u = 25cm
• = + , = + = f = 50
• He needs a convex lens of focal length
50cm
 LOSS OF ACCOMMODATION (PRESBYOPIA)
• Meaning: This is the loss
of elasticity of the eye-
lens. That is, the eye –
lens tends to become
inelastic and unable to
accommodate.

• Cause: It is caused by
increasing age which
makes the eye lens to
become inelastic and
 CORRECTION OF PRESBYOPIA
• It requires two pairs for
its correction. A concave
pair for viewing distant
object and a convex pair
for viewing near objects.
The two pairs may be
combined in one frame
with the top and bottom
parts having different
powers (bifocal
spectacles).
 ASTIGMATISM

• Meaning : Astigmatism is caused by an

irregular curvature of the eye’s cornea or
lens, if the cornea or lens is not evenly
curved or not smooth, light rays are not
refracted properly. With astigmatism there
will blurred or distorted vision at near and far
distances.
• Cause: This is caused by the distortion of
the curvatures of the cornea or of the eye-
lens.
 CORRECTION OF ASTIGMATISM
It is corrected by shaping the spectacles lens so as to have
different curvatures indifferent directions.
COMPARISON OF THE HUMAN
EYE AND THE CAMERA
 THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE HUMAN EYE AND CAMERA

• i.The human eye is impregnated with black pigments within

while the camera has light tight box painted black inside.
• ii. The pupil of the eye serves the same function as the
aperture of the camera.
• iii. Both the human eye and the camera have converging
lens to focus rays from an external object.
• iv. Both have light sensitive materials on which the rays are
focused the retina in the eye and the film in the camera.
• v. The iris in the human eye serves the same function as
the diaphragm in the camera, to regulate the amount of
light entering the eye.
 Differences between the Human Eye and the Camera

S/N
The Human Eye The Camera
1
The human eye has the power of The focal length of the camera is
accommodation i.e variable focal fixed
length

2
The distance between the lens the distance between the lens and
and the retina is fixed in the the film can be varied in camera
human eye
3
The eye can suffer from the the camera does not
defect of vision
4
The eye is a biological organ the camera is mechanical device
 OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

• Optical Instrument that can

Produce Virtual Images are:
• Microscope,
• Telescope
• Prism Binocular
 THE SIMPLE MICROSCOPE OR MAGNIFYING GLASS

• Simple microscope or magnifying glass is a convex

lens which is used to produce magnified images of
small objects. The objects are usually placed nearer to
the lens than the principal focus so that an erect,
virtual and magnified images seen clearly at 25cm
from the normal eye.
 THE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE

• The compound microscope consists of two convex

lenses fitted at the opposite ends of a tube.
• The eyepiece has a comparatively larger focal
length than the objective lens.
• The object is placed close to objective lens and
this forms a magnified, inverted and real image I1
of the object.
• The eyepiece is adjusted until I1, will fall between
the eyepiece and its principal focus F as shown, a
magnified and virtual image I2 will be produced
when viewed through the eyepiece.
 THE COMPOUND
MICROSCOPE

The magnifying power M of the compound = M1 x M2 where

M1 is the magnification produced by the objective lens and
M2 is the magnification produced by the eyepiece.
 WORKED EXAMPLE

• A microscope has an objective of focal

length 1.0cm and an eyepiece of focal length
8.0cm, both lenses are separated by a
distance of 12.0cm, a tiny object 1mm long
is placed 1.2 from the objective lens. Find
the position and size of the final image.
 THE TELESCOPE

• The telescope is an instrument for viewing distant

objects such as the stars and planets. There are
many types of telescopes in use but, basically a
telescope is either designed to be used for
observing objects on the earth’s surface – the
terrestrial telescope or for observing celestial
objects – the astronomical telescope