Physics 106 Lesson #26

Optics:
Optical Instruments
Dr. Andrew Tomasch
2405 Randall Lab
atomasch@umich.edu
Propagation of Light Waves
• Light waves arrive at
objects and interact
with them in three
basic ways. They can:
1. Reflect (bounce off)
2. Refract (go through)
3. Be absorbed (stop)

• Not exclusive, all three

may occur
Demonstration
The Law of Reflection
• The incident ray,
reflected ray and
the normal to the
surface are all in
the same plane.
• The angle of
incidence equals
the angle of
reflection.

i   r
Plane Mirrors
• A ray of light from the top of the chess piece reflects
from the mirror
• To the eye, the ray seems to come from behind the
mirror
• Because none of the rays actually emanate from the
image, it is called a virtual image
Refraction

• As light passes from one medium to another it

changes direction at the interface between the
two media
• This change of direction is known as refraction
The Index of Refraction
• Light travels
through materials at
Indices of Refraction
a speed less than its
speed in a vacuum Vacuum 1 (exactly)

c c Air 1.0003
n v Water 1.333
v n
Ice 1.309

INDEX OF Glass 1.523

REFRACTION
Diamond 2.419
Refraction at Surface of Water

http://www.opticalres.com/gentsupp_f.html
Refraction and the
Normal Direction
• Light bends toward the normal when
passing from a lower into a higher
index of refraction

Normal Direction to
Air: n = 1.00 Air- Water Surface

Light Ray Bends Toward

the Normal in Water
Water: n = 1.33
Demonstration
Concept Test #1
While boating on the Amazon, you decide to go
spear fishing. You look into the water and see
where a fish appears to be. Where should you
aim your spear?
1) Beyond where the fish appears
2) In front of where the fish appears
3) Directly where the fish appears

What you see

Where the fish really is

Where the fish really is

A Thin Converging Lens Produces a Real,
Inverted Image for Objects Outside the
Focal Length

A Thin Converging Lens Has a Positive Focal

Length-a Real Image can be Produced on the
Side Opposite the Object.
A Thin Converging Lens Produces
a Virtual, Upright Image for
Objects Inside the Focal Length
The Thin Lens Equation
•Relates the Image Distance (i), the Object
Distance (o) and the Focal Length (f)
•Works for both Converging and Diverging lenses
provided the focal length for a Diverging lens is
defined to be negative.

1 1 1
 
i o f
Spherical Mirrors
• Spherical mirrors are curved mirrors which
are sections of a sphere.
• Two types of spherical mirrors:
1) Concave (inside surface is reflective)
2) Convex (outside surface is reflective)
• Ray tracing shows that the focal length of a
spherical mirror is one half the radius of the
sphere: f = R/2 (simple!)
Spherical Mirrors
Concave Convex

• Parallel light rays striking a spherical mirror

converge upon or diverge from a focal point
• Concave: real focus, light converges
• Convex: virtual focus, light diverges
The Thin Lens Equation
Works for Spherical Mirrors
•Concave (converging) mirrors have a
positive focal length and can produce real
images
•Convex (diverging) mirrors have a negative
focal length and cannot produce real
images

1 1 1
 
i o f
Concave Convex
Concave Mirrors: Real Images
•Light from an object outside the focal point
of a converging mirror will be focused to a
real image in front of the mirror.
Concave Mirrors: Virtual Images

• When an object is located inside the

focal point of a concave mirror, an
enlarged, upright, and virtual image is
produced which appears to be behind
the mirror.
Instruments: Multiple
Lenses and Mirrors
• Strategy: Form a real first image with
one lens or mirror and then hold a
magnifier up to the real image to
produce a final magnified virtual image
The Compound Microscope
• A small object is placed just outside
of a short focal length (high diopter
power) objective lens and the
resulting real first image is viewed
with a second short focal length
eyepiece lens
1630
The Refracting Telescope
• A first real image of a distant object is formed
by a long focal length (low diopter power)
objective lens. The first real image is then
viewed with a second short focal length (high
diopter power) eyepiece lens

fobjective
M 
f eyepiece M is the Angular Magnification