Physics 316 Experiment A1: Thin Lenses and Data Analysis

A1

This experiment is designed as an introduction to our lab. It will provide some inaccurate data that can then be subjected to statistical analysis. Readings: Hecht Jenkins and White Strong Measurements: Your first measurements will involve the object-image relation for a thin bi-convex lens which has a focal length of about 5 cm. The second set of measurements will use a bi-concave lens. Concave lenses will not produce real images when used alone, but the focal length of a concave lens can be calculated if it is used in combination with a convex lens of known focal length, and the combined focal length is measured. From the internal consistency of your data, errors are to be calculated. Errors that occur in one measurement will influence the accuracy of later calculations, and so we will also examine the propagation errors. For a thin lens in air, the following equations hold (to a good approximation, for whose focal lengths are much greater than the lens thickness):
1 1 1 = + f S S' (Gaussian form)

Ch. 5 Ch. 1.3 Ch. 13, #4-6

f 2 = x x'

(Newtonian form; x, x' are extra-focal distances)

"1 1 1 % = (n ! 1) $ + ' f # R1 R2 &

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Physics 316

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The object and image distances are denoted by S, S respectively. The extra-focal distances are x, x, and the radii of curvature of the two lens surfaces are R1, R2. The refractive index of the glass is n, and in this experiment we shall ignore its wavelength dependence. Apparatus: optical bench with slides objects: transparent pattern that can be illuminated from behind, and a thin pin light source lenses: nominal focal length 5 cm, -7.3 cm. (NOTE: Please keep track of lenses and replace them in correct envelopes after use. Do not finger the lens surfaces.) plane mirror with support screen Procedure: A. Object-image method of determining focal length. The measurement of distances between lenses or between lens and screen can be troublesome, since the various components will not in general lie directly above some easily read marker on the support that rides on the optical bench. The following method effectively calibrates each component; you can then use the scales along the optical benches.

Each optical bench has a scale running along its length. Set up the two components that you will be working with, as shown in the diagram, with the metal rod between them. You can now read from the bench scale the apparent distance apart, and you can use the vernier calipers to measure the actual length of the rod. You can also measure the thickness of the lens, when appropriate. From all of these measurements, you can now calculate the true separation for any apparent separation. In the same way, you can calibrate each other pair of components and their holders.

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Caution: calibration measurements need to be repeated, and the average and standard error calculated. Mount the object slide at one end of the optical bench and illuminate it from behind. Place the screen at the other end of the bench and mount the converging (convex) lens on a slide between the slit and screen. Adjust these components so that they are all at about the same height. Find a position for the lens so that a sharp image is seen on the screen. Measure S, S estimating positions as well as you can, if possible to less than 1 mm. Calculate f. Slide the lens to the other possible ('conjugate') position for sharp focus, without moving either object or screen. Measure the new values of S, S, and again calculate f.

Change the separation between object and screen (by about 10 cm) and repeat the settings and measurements. Repeat for additional object-image separations until you have at least five sets of data. Questions: 1. What limitations are there on possible object-image distances for a given lens? 2. Under what conditions is it possible to form two, one or no real image?

Calculations and graphs: Plot S vs S: can you calculate a value for f from this graph? Plot 1/S vs 1/S. Fit a best straight line through your data points, using the least squares method, and thence derive a value for the focal length. Repeat, by plotting 1/S vs 1/S. Do you get the same value of f as for the first line? Compare these values of f with the value you obtain by taking an average of the individual values, each obtained from 1/S + 1/S = 1/ f. [Reference: Taylor, Ch. 8 or Bevington, Ch. 6].

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Review your data: are there any individual values or sets that seem so far from the average or main trend that you think they should not be included? If their rejection can be justified, do so, and recompute the focal length of the remaining sample.

B. Autocollimation methods of measuring focal length of a thin lens This provides a convenient alternative to the object-image method, but because it consists of repeated settings of a single arrangement, it is more open to systematic errors. Use a thin rod as object, and arrange it as shown in the diagram, so that it coincides with its own inverted image.

It is easiest to locate the inverted image first by using your eye. With the large field of view, find the image and adjust the screws behind the mirror to bring the image close to the object pin. At that time, the pin and its image will not generally coincide, but will lie along a common normal to the mirror. Move your head from side to side and you will see the image and pin move apart. Move the pin, either closer to the mirror or further away, so as to reduce this parallax. When the pin and image move with no separation, the pin must be at the focal point of the lens. After making this adjustment by eye, use a magnifying glass or eyepiece to permit a more accurate setting. In doing this, you can make use of another index of the accuracy of your setting: the pin and its image should be the same size. This no-parallax method can be used to locate any real image, not only in autocollimation.

C. Focal length of a concave (diverging) lens. For two thin lenses, having focal lengths f1, and f2, the focal length of the combination is given by
1 1 1 d = + ! F f1 f2 f1 f2

where the lens separation d is small compared to f1, f2. 4 Revised 1/18/10

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Mount the concave lens and convex lens in contact in the same holder. Measure the focal length of the combination, using the object-image method as in Sec. A and measuring distances to the midpoint between the lenses. Take d to be the center-to-center distance, between lenses, and compute f2, for the concave lens. From your measurements of the focal lengths and of d, estimate the standard error in f2, by propagating the various errors. [Reference: Class Notes, Taylor, Ch. 3 or Bevington, Ch. 3]

Comments on calculation of errors: There are three ways of evaluating the standard error of the mean for a single lens. You have made a series of measurements; each set consists of a value of the object distance (s), the image distance (s) and from these the calculated focal length: 1/s +1/s =1/f. You will thus have generated a number of f values. You can calculate the mean of these f values and the standard deviation () of the individual f values about this mean value. You can then calculate the s.e.m.,

! mean =

! . N

Alternately, you can differentiate the expression for f (above) and get the expressions for df/ds, df/ds. Either by repeated measurement or by estimation, you can provide values for the equivalent s.e.m. for each s, s. (For example, if you did not repeat the reading for each setting, you might estimate that each s, s is measured to the nearest 0.5 mm.) You can then propogate the errors and in this way calculate what the s.e.m. should be for f. The s.e.m. values computed in these two ways should be in reasonable agreement. (What is reasonable?) Significant differences can indicate a source of unsuspected error. One s.e.m. is based on the actual s, s and the functional relation between s, s and f. This s.e.m. should thus tell you how closely the calculated f values should agree. The other s.e.m. is obtained from the actual f values, showing what actually happened. This kind of checking can be useful but it can also be tedious. To show how it will suffice if you use it for the single convex lens only, and not for the combination of lenses. The s.e.m. of the combination (F) can be calculated from the distribution of the several values you obtain for F. On the other hand, the calculation of the s.e.m. for f2 (the concave lens) will require propagation of errors, using the measured s.e.m. for F and f1 and d. A third method of calculating the s.e.m. for a focal length is, in some ways, the most direct: carrying out a least-squares fit of 1/s vs. 1/s, and calculating the errors on the slope and intercept.

Revised 1/18/10