LENSES

 A transparent material bound by two surfaces, of which one or both surfaces are
spherical, forms a lens.

 Lens is basically classified into two types. They are: (i) Convex Lens (ii) Concave
Lens

Convex or bi-convex Lens:

 Thick in the middle thin at the edges.
 A convex lens is also
known as converging
lens.
 Produces magnified
images.

Concave or bi-concave Lens:

 Thin in the middle
thick at the edges.
 A concave lens is also
known as diverging
lens.
 Produces diminished image.

Plano-convex lens: If one of the faces of a bi-convex lens is plane, it is known as a

plano-convex lens.
Plano-concave lens: If one of the faces of a bi-concave lens is plane, it is known as
a plano-concave lens.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A CONVEX LENS AND A CONCAVE LENS

No Convex Lens Concave Lens

1 A convex lens is thicker in the middle
than at edges.
2 It is a converging lens.
3 It produces mostly real images.
4 It is used to treat hypermeteropia.
A concave lens is thinner in the middle
than at edges.
It is a diverging lens.
It produces virtual images.
It is used to treat myopia.
TERMS RELATED TO SPHERICAL LENSES:

Optical centre (O):

 The central point of the lens is known as its optical centre (O).

Centre of curvature (C1 & C2):

 Each of the two spherical surfaces of a lens forms a part of a sphere. The centres
of these spheres are called centres of curvature of the lens. These are represented
as C1 and C2.

Principal axis:
 The principal axis of a lens is a straight line passing through its two centres of
curvature.

Principal focus (F):

 The principal focus of a convex lens is a point on its

principal axis to which light rays parallel to the
principal axis converge after passing through the
lens.

 The principal focus of a concave lens is a point on

its principal axis from which light rays, originally parallel to the principal axis appear
to diverge after passing through the lens.

Focal length (f):

 The focal length (f) of a lens is the distance of the
principal focus from the optical centre.
IMAGES FORMED DUE TO REFRACTION THROUGH A CONVEX AND CONCAVE LENS

Rule-1:
 When a ray of light strikes
the convex or concave lens
obliquely at its optical centre,
it continues to follow its path
without any deviation.

Rule-2:
 When rays parallel to the
principal axis strikes a convex
or concave lens, the refracted
rays are converged to (convex
lens) or appear to diverge from
(concave lens) the principal
focus.

Rule-3:
 When a ray passing through
(convex lens) or directed
towards (concave lens) the
principal focus strikes a convex
or concave lens, the refracted
ray will be parallel to the
principal axis.

IMAGES FORMED BY A CONVEX LENS:

Object: at infinity
Image:

 At focus F2

 Highly diminished

 Real & inverted

Object: beyond 2F1 Image:

 Between F2 & 2F2

 diminished

 Real & inverted

Object: at 2F1
Image:

 At 2F2

 Same size

 Real & inverted

  Object: Between F1 & 2F1

Image:

 Beyond 2F2

 Enlarged

 Real & inverted

Object: at F1 Image:

 At infinity

 Highly enlarged

 Real & inverted

Object: between F1 & O Image:

 On the same side of

object

 enlarged

 virtual & erect

IMAGES FORMED BY A CONCAVE LENS:

Object: at infinity Image:

 at focus F1

 highly diminished

 virtual and erect

Object: between infinity and focus F1 Image:

 between focus F1 & 2F1

 diminished

 virtual and erect

APPLICATIONS OF CONVEX LENSES

Convex lenses are used as camera lenses

They are used as magnifying lenses
They are used in making microscope, telescope and slide projectors
They are used to correct the defect of vision called hypermetropia.

APPLICATIONS OF CONCAVE LENSES

Concave lenses are used as eye lens of ‘Galilean Telescope’

They are used in wide angle spy hole in doors.
They are are used to correct the defect of vision called ‘myopia’.
IMAGES FORMED BY CONVEX LENS:

IMAGES FORMED BY CONVEX LENS:

NOTE:
 As the distance between the object and the lens is decreased, the distance between
the image and the lens also keeps decreasing. Further, the size of the image formed
increases as the distance between the object and the lens is decreased.
LENS FORMULA

 The lens formula gives the relationship among distance of the object (u), distance of
the image (v) and the focal length (f) of the lens.
1/v – 1/u =1/f

MAGNIFICATION OF A LENS

Linear magnification of spherical lenses is defined as the ratio of the height of the
image to the height of an object.
magnification = height of the image
height of the object
m = hi = v
ho u
it has no unit

NOTE:
 m > 1 - enlarged image [image size > object size]
 m < 1 - diminished image [image size < object size]
 m = 1 - same size [ image size = object size]

POWER OF A LENS

The ability of a lens to converge (convex lens) or diverge (concave lens) is called as
its power. Hence, the power of a lens can be defined as the degree of convergence
or divergence of light rays.
Power of a lens is numerically defined as the reciprocal of its focal length.
P = 1 = 1 p
f focal length
The SI unit of power of a lens is dioptre (D).
By convention, the power of a convex lens is taken as positive whereas the power of
a concave lens is taken, as negative.

One dioptre:
One dioptre is the power of a lens, whose focal length is one metre.
1dioptre = 1m-1.

NOTE: for numerical

If focal length is given in m, then P = 1/f
If focal length is given in cm, then P = 100/f
 SIGN CONVENTION

The object is always placed on the left side of the lens.

All the distances are measured from the optical centre of the lens.
The distances measured in the same direction as that of incident light are taken as
positive.
The distances measured against the direction of incident light are taken as negative.
The distances measured upward and perpendicular to the principal axis is taken as
positive.
The distances measured downward and perpendicular to the principal axis is taken as
negative.

SIGN CONVENTION TABLE

CONVEX LENS CONCAVE LENS
Object distance (u) -ve -ve

Image distance (v) Real = +ve

Virtual = -ve Virtual = -ve

Object height (hi) +ve +ve

Image height (ho) Real = -ve

Virtual = +ve Virtual = +ve

Focal length (f) +ve -ve

Power (p) +ve -ve

Magnification Real = -ve
(m=hi/ho = v/u) Virtual = +ve Virtual = +ve