Lenses

Refraction
• The ‘bending’ of light as it passes from one
transparent material to another is called
Refraction.
• Refraction:
makes oceans and swimming pools look
shallower than they are
makes straight objects appear disconnected in
water
causes mirages
Refracted rays
• The amount of
refraction
depends on the
optical densities
of the mediums.
• The higher the
optical density,
the slower the
light travels
through it
•When a ray of light travels from a less
dense medium into a denser medium
(such as from air to water), it slows
down and bends closer to the actual
object
•LMC
First medium, Less dense
Second medium More dense
light bends Closer to normal/ actual
object
•When a ray of light travels from a denser
medium to a less dense medium, it travels
away from the normal.
•MLA
More dense to
Less dense
Away from normal
 Lenses
•A lens is a curved piece of
transparent material such as glass or
plastic
•Convex lenses are thicker in the
center than the edges.
•Concave lenses are thinner in the
center than at the edges.
Convex lenses
•In convex lenses, the
light rays are
converging, or
focusing.
•The focal point is
where the rays cross
over
Concave Lenses
•In concave
lenses, the light
rays diverge or
spread.
•The focal point is
on the other side
of the lens,
known as a virtual
focus
Tuesday- stile Research PROJECT

•Activity:
Project: Lenses
 The
Human
Eye
 The eye
• The light is reflected from the surroundings and enters your eye
and is refracted as it passes through the outer surface your eyes
• This outer surface is called the cornea and it is curved so the
light entering converges as it passes through the lens.
• The light then travels through the pupil, in the iris. The pupil
controls the amount of light that passes through
• In bright light, the pupil constricts (becomes small) and
prevents too much light entering
• In a dark room, the pupil dilates to allow as much light to pass
through
• The lens then bends the light further so that the image is formed
on the retina is sharp.
• This image is inverted (projected upside down)
• The brain however, processes the signal coming from the optic
nerve so that we see things the right way up.
Cornea

Lens
Lens
Cornea
 How does the lens in your eye work?
• The shape of the lens in the eye is controlled by the
ciliary muscles.
• When the object is at a considerable distance (when
its far), the ciliary muscles are relaxed and the lens
look thin
• When the object is nearby, the ciliary muscles
contract. This action causes the suspensory ligaments
to become slack, causing the lens to bulge
• This action of the lens to obtain a sharp image is
called Accommodation.
 Myopia- Short-sightedness
• A person who is short-sighted is able to view
object clearly when they are at a close distant
but are unable to view objects from afar.
• The objects are blurry because the light rays
have bent too much and have formed the
image INFRONT of the retina.
• This can be corrected with glasses that have
DIVERGING lenses. The lenses used are called
“convexo-concave” lenses.
 Hyperopia- Long-sightedness
•A person who is unable to see an object
when it is nearby; it becomes blurred.
•The light rays coming from the objects are
not bent enough to form the image on the
retina. Instead they form the image BEHIND
the retina.
•This can often be treated with CONVERGING
lenses that are called Concavo-convex lens.
So, how
does a
camera
work?
Camera vs. your eye
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL61MbyYsd4&t=1s
How have these helped with communication?
• Coaxial cables:
• Microwaves:
• Optical fibres: The National Broadband Network is
based on the fibre optic technology. This provides
broadband speeds 100x faster than currently
available wireless or coaxial cables (which are
used to transmit telephone calls)
• Satellites: