Phys335 - Optics

Task #3

This task has you work through a review of Geometric Optics. This should all be a
review of things that you learned in your General Physics course. Feel free to go back and
use that book and your Hecht text if you need to review. Please work together as you tackle
the following problems. You will submit written solutions and dedicate a portion of your
webpage to a review of geometric optics. You can include these problems and their
solutions on your page. You can also include videos or make your own video outlining the
geometric optics concepts below. Answer the questions thoroughly and be sure to always
explain your reasoning.

Concepts
1. What is a light ray? -A coupled electric field and magnetic wave which has both
wave and particle properties.
2. What is specular reflection? (Sure, you can look it up. But use your own words to
explain it!) -It is when an incident light is reflected completely in a singular
direction.
3. What is a paraxial ray? -A light ray that makes a small angle with the surface its
reflecting off of.
4. Explain the differences between converging and diverging mirrors. Be thorough!
-Converging Lens: Makes light beams converge to one point and can produce either
real or virtual images based on the location of the object. -Diverging Lens: Spreads
the light beams and will form virtual images.
5. Explain real and virtual images. Be thorough! -Real Images: formed when light rays
meet the point after getting reflected from a lens. -Virtual Images: Occur when rays
only appear to diverged.

Problems
6. A point source of light is from a large opaque barrier that has an L-shaped
aperture, dimensions shown. Light is viewed on a screen that is away from the
source. Sketch an image of what you would see on the screen, and show any
relevant dimensions.
7. A student has built a long pinhole camera for science fair projects. She wants
to photograph a tall building and have the image be high. How far
should she stand from the building? -167.64(.2)/0.0508=660m

8. A light bulb is suspended form the ceiling and hangs in front of a mirror, as shown in
the diagram below. If a student walks parallel to the mirror, how far away can they
be and still see the image of the light bulb in the mirror? -

-4 meters.
 9. A fish looks out the side of an aquarium at a can nearby. The can is from the
end of the aquarium. To the fish, does it appear to be closer, farther, or the same
distance?
-The can will appear closer to the fish because it changes its medium from water to air,
which causes the refraction to bend closer to the normal, bringing the object closer.

10. A high object is placed from a diameter lens. A sharply focused

image is seen on a screen on the other side of the lens, and is high.
a. What is the focal length of the lens? -1/f = 1/di + 1/do
-Use hi/ho = di/do to find di so F=30
b. Suppose the screen is moved so that it is twice as far away. What will be
seen? -If you moved the screen twice the distance, it would create a blurry
image.
c. Now an aperture is placed in front of the lens. An aperture is an opaque
piece that covers the entire lens, except for a small pinhole in the center.
What will you see on the screen with this aperture in place? -If the Aperture
is close to the lens, it will create a clear image because its centering the light,
however, if it's far from the lens, you will create a blurry image, as you’re not
condensing as much light.

11. Two converging lenses with focal lengths of and are placed
apart. A tall object is placed from the lens.
a. Describe all the features of the final image (upright/inverted, real/virtual,
smaller/larger, etc.). -Virtual Image, Inverted and larger (from mag -2.24)
b. Find the exact location and height of the final image.
-Di2= 48.57cm
-Hi2= -4.46cm

12. A converging lens with focal length of and a diverging lens with a focal length
of are placed apart. A tall object is placed from the
converging lens.
a. Describe all the features of the final image (upright/inverted, real/virtual,
smaller/larger, etc.). -Real Image, Inverted and not magnified (Mag -1)
b. Find the exact location and height of the final image.
-Di2= -20cm
-Hi2= -2cm