Tutorial 3: Lens Aberration and Dispersion.

Section A : Lens aberration

2. Explain briefly what is optical resolution?

The optical resolution is its ability to make out the fine details of an object. Resolution measures how
frequently an optical instrument can image a target thus, it is used to describe the level of detail.

Five-meter imagery (left) can be ideal for mapping larger areas, but it wont show the same level of
detail as high-resolution imagery (right).

Resolution measures how frequently an optical instrument can image a target. More commonly
resolution is used to describe the level of detail. An image with 1-meter spatial resolution, where each
pixel represents a ground distance of 1 meter x 1 meter, has higher resolutionis more detailed than
a 5-meter resolution image, where each pixel represents a ground distance of 5 meters x 5 meters
(smaller pixel higher resolution).

2. Explain the Newtons experiment to ascertain this theory.

White light is a mixture of various different colors. Hence, the colors can be mixing and
produces white light. Newton used prisms to study color. The emerging light from a second
prism is white only if the dispersion compensation mechanism is incorporated. Newton blocked
all the rays of light from the first prism except for those of one color. Hence, only that color was
seen through the second prism and it was unchanged.

Newton recognized that this meant the color is associated with light itself; the prism was not
altering the properties of light. The index of refraction of a transparent material differs slightly
for different colors of light. Glass has a slightly higher index of refraction for violet light than for
green light or red light. Different colors of light refract at slightly different angle.