Thin Lens Equation

Objectives Conceptual: Verify the thin lens equation. Experimental: Make measurements on an optical bench to measure object and image distances for a convex lens. Background The thin lens equation is given by, ( ! "here p # distance from the object to the lens q # distance from the image to the lens f # focal length of the lens. $quation describes a hyperbola. %igure hyperbola covers three quadrants. sho&s a plot of p vs. q. 'otice that the
p + q = f

(n the first quadrant there are positive values of both p and q corresponding real objects and real images. The second quadrant contains negative p and positive q, corresponding to virtual objects and real images. %inally, in quadrant four &e have positive p and negative q, corresponding to real objects and virtual images.

%igure . ) plot of the thin lens equation.

%inding f from )symptotes

(n this lab &e &ill study the first quadrant &here both the object and image are real. (n order to have a real object and real image, one places an object before the lens such that one can see an image of the object on a screen on the opposite side of the lens. %igure sho&s dotted lines, &hich are the asymptotes of the hyperbola. The asymptotes correspond to places &here the values of p and q are not defined. *hysically this means that as p goes to infinity, q &ill approach the value of the asymptote. +ike&ise as p approaches the asymptote, q goes to infinity. +ooking at equation ( !, one can see that mathematically, as p goes to infinity, ,p goes to -ero, and thus q#f. +ike&ise as p goes to f, ,q goes to -ero so that q goes to infinity. Thus one concludes that &here the asymptotes cross the p and q axes corresponds to the value of the focal length, f. %inding f from .lopes /ne can rearrange equation ( ! to read, (0!
q = p + f

(f &e compare this from to the equation for a line, (1! y= mx + b,

&e can treat 1/q like a y variable, 1/p like an x variable, and 1/f like the intercept, b. That is, &e can make a plot of 1/q vs. 1/p. The data plotted this &ay should sho& a linear trend &ith a negative slope and from the intercept &e can determine f. Prediction uestions . )s the object is moved closer to the lens, explain, using equation ( !, ho& the image moves. 0. .uppose the focal length of the lens is 2cm. (f an object is placed at 02cm, use $quation ( ! to calculate the image location, q. 'o& use the value q as the value for a second object location, p. "hat is the image location for this second p. 1. $xplain &hat happens to the image if the bottom half of the lens is covered up.

!etup The setup for the lab is sho&n in %igure 0.

%igure 0. .etup. The object is the arro& shaped aperture, &hich is illuminated by a light bulb. The object distance, p, is the distance from the arro& to the lens. The light from the arro& passes through the lens and the lens forms an image on a screen. The image distance, q, is the distance from the lens to the screen. *lace the light and arro& aperture on one end of the optical bench. *lace the screen on the far end of the bench. *lace the lens in the lens holder and position it on the bench such that an image is formed on the screen. Procedure Take about 02 total measurements of p and q for different position of the screen and lens. Try to cover as &ide a range of p as you can.

"nal#sis 3ou &ill obtain the focal length using three methods. . %or each measurement of p and q, calculate the focal length from $quation ( !. 4alculate an average and standard deviation of these values. 0. *lot p vs. q and obtain the focal length from your best determination of the asymptotes. 1. *lot ,p vs. ,q. 4alculate the center5of5gravity of these data points and dra& max,min lines through the center5of5gravity point. %ind the slopes of these lines and calculate a best slope. 6se the best slope value, and the center5of5gravity value to obtain the best intercept value. %rom the best intercept value determine the focal length as described in the background section. "nal#sis uestions . %or one of your p values, so a ray tracing to find the image location and compare this result to your measurements. 0. 7o ray tracing for an object placed bet&een the focal point and the lens. $ata%Calculations p (cm! 0 1 8 8 02 q (cm! f(cm! ,p ( ,cm! ,q ( ,cm!

&eport &equirements: . /bjective 0. Theory (one paragraph, in your o&n &ords! 1. Measuring (nstruments table. 9. 7ata,4alculations tables. :. )nalysis8 - /btain an average and standard deviation f from your 02 measurements of p and q. - 0 ;raphs - 7etermine f from the asymptotes of the p vs. q graph. - 7etermine the focal length of the lens from the slope of the graph of ,p vs. ,q <. 4onclusion8 %ollo& the Conclusion 'ormat described in the beginning of the lab manual. 7iscuss the results of all the studies in terms of the objectives and background. 7iscuss the trends in your plots in terms of the shape of the trend and ho& it compares to the expected trend. 7iscuss your numerical result in terms of the expected values.