Nikki Tomblin

Pd. 2

Lens Lab
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to study the properties of light through lenses and to
determine how optical instruments function.
Background: Optics is the study of light waves and how different materials can alter it. The
shapes of the lenses determine the direction that the light rays will refract (or bend). A double
convex lens will create a real, upside down image due to the way it refracts light rays into a
converging point while a double concave will not create an image on a screen because the only
image produced is virtual, right side up and appears on the opposite side that a screen could be
because it makes the light rays diverge and your brain creates an image from where the rays
seem to come from.. The focal point of a lens can be found by placing a lens between a light
source with an image on it and a screen, and moving them until a focused image is produced on
the screen. Then the by using the Si, or the distance between the lens and the image, and the So,
or the distance between the light source and the lens, you can use the thin lens equation to
determine the focal point. The thin lense equation is 1/F=1/So+1/Si. We can use optics to our
advantage to create a clear magnified image or to do things with fiber optics that take advantage
of total internal reflection. In modern times optics are a huge part of our daily lives and our still
being developed to do things we would have never thought were possible.
Equipment: 1 double convex lens, 1 double concave lens, 1 Vernier dynamics track, 1 light
source, 1 lens holder, 1 screen, 1 screen holder, cardboard piece with a shape cutout, and
cardboard piece (or note card) with a pinhole will be needed in order to do this lab.

Procedure:
Set up the lab using the provided set up picture above with the materials listed. Then
adjust them on the slider until a clear image is produced and collect the measurements for So and
Si. This will be done in different trials based on the relation of the size of the image and the size
of the object. The thin lens equation can be used to find the focal length which is discussed more
in the background section.
Questions:
1. Does blocking the lens with a piece of cardboard affect the image? Does the shape cut out of
the cardboard show on the screen when this is held by the lens? Try moving it around and record
your observations.
Blocking the lens with a piece of cardboard does not have an effect on the image. The shape of
the image is not affected by the shape in the cardboard. It sometimes becomes dimmer, but the
image never disappears.
2. Place the lens at a distance that is less than the focal length from the light source. Record
your observations regarding the ability to form an image on the screen AND what is seen

looking back through the lens at the light.

There is no image on the screen. The image is right side up.
3. Determine the type of image created by a pinhole and WHY this occurs.
It is a real image. This occurs because the light must come together to be able to go through the
hole. They cross when they come together flipping the image.
4. What is the type of image you created with the double convex lens in your data section?
EXPLAIN how you know this!
This a real image because it is shown on a screen.
5. Replace the double convex lens with a double concave lens. Record your observations about
the ability to form an image on the screen AND what is seen looking back through the lens at the
light.
It does not place an image on the screen. This is because it scatters the light rays. It is right side
up and smaller than the source.
Use of Lenses and Mirrors:
A simple movie projector can use a double convex converging lense to display a real
image on a screen. Since this would be upside down the film used to project the image is upside
down.

The lense in your eye is a double convex lense that produces a real image into the back of
your eye, It flexes its shape to change the focal length and produce a sharp image at different
distances. Your brain flips the image and makes it so that we see the world the way we do.

There are two lenses in a basic telescope one being a double convex on the side where the
object you are viewing is; which creates a real image inside of the microscope, and then there is
another double convex lense that you look into which flips the image again creating a virtual
image that you see.

Data/Calculations:
TRIAL
1
2
3

Image type

so

Image is smaller 23.6cm

than object
Image is same size 19.1 cm
as object
Image is larger than 13.7 cm
object

si

ho

hi

18.2cm

2.5cm

hi/ ho
(M/magnification)
1.9cm
.76

19.4 cm

2.5 cm

2.5 cm

32.3 cm

2.5 cm

6.1 cm

2.44

Calculations:

Error:
The error in the focal point could be caused by the way that they are manufactured. The
filing and work that is done on them is not precise enough to give them the focal point that is the
accepted focal point for them. This could cause error in either direction. Another source of error
are just simple measurement errors that cause your Si and So to be less accurate and creating a
focal point that is away from its true focal point.
Conclusion:
This lab created a much better understanding of light and how lenses work for me. By
measuring the distances between the lens, the screen, and the object when the image is clear it
showed what the focal point of a lense is. Through this lab an understanding of why certain
lenses form real or virtual images becomes clearer because you physically see and can imagine
the light entering into a double convex lense and refracting out to form a real image which is
upside down. The magnification with this type of lense can vary based on the distances between
the object, the lens, and the screen. To conclude this lab improved my comprehension of the way
rays of light travel and are refracted through lenses.