Pre Lab
This week's lab will begin our discussion of geometric or ray optics. When light interacts with matter a few things can happen. It can be absorbed, it can bounce off (reflection), or it can pass through. When it passes through, it is bent because it changes speed as it moves through different materials (refraction). We take advantage of these properties in designing lenses and mirrors for many different applications out in the world. By shaping the lens or mirror in certain ways, we can cause the light to bend or bounce in useful ways (see picture below).
As you know, light travels in electromagnetic waves and as we will see next week, it exhibits the properties of waves. Interestingly, light also sometimes acts like particles (much to the confusion of early physicists and current physics students). It is the particle nature of light that allows us to model light rays and their interactions with lenses and mirrors as in the pictures above.
We will discuss this in more detail in lecture, but here are a few terms you will need to know (the videos to the right elaborate on the topic really well).
The focal length, object distance, and image distance can be associate with the Thin Lens Equation: 1/f = 1/s + 1/s' In the lab this week we will explore this Thin Lens Equation relationship by finding images produced by 1) a single mirror, 2) a single lens (both converging and diverging, and 3) a combination of lenses. Prior to lab please complete the following:
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Some Videos Introducing Geometric Optics
Here is a full lecture on the topic:
Ray Diagrams for Mirrors
Ray Diagrams for Lenses
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Pre Lab Video
Simulation
Explore the simulation embedded at the following link to explore Geometric Optics.
Lens Simulation: phet.colorado.edu/sims/geometric-optics/geometric-optics_en.html
Ray Diagrams Simulation: simbucket.com/lensesandmirrors/
Another REALLY cool optics simulation: https://ricktu288.github.io/ray-optics/simulator/
Even More Optics Simulations (Both lenses and mirrors): https://www.edumedia-sciences.com/en/node/69-lenses-and-mirrors
You may use the simulations to answer the pre lab quiz questions as well.
Pre-Lab Quiz is available at the course Blackboard website
Lens Simulation: phet.colorado.edu/sims/geometric-optics/geometric-optics_en.html
Ray Diagrams Simulation: simbucket.com/lensesandmirrors/
Another REALLY cool optics simulation: https://ricktu288.github.io/ray-optics/simulator/
Even More Optics Simulations (Both lenses and mirrors): https://www.edumedia-sciences.com/en/node/69-lenses-and-mirrors
You may use the simulations to answer the pre lab quiz questions as well.
Pre-Lab Quiz is available at the course Blackboard website
Lab
This week you will be completing the Optics lab (pg. 85) found your lab manual and a virtual lab using a Phet simulation.
We will be using a light source (object), screens (image), and several lenses and mirrors to complete this lab.
We will be using a light source (object), screens (image), and several lenses and mirrors to complete this lab.
Post Lab
Please post a reflection on the lab experience on the Optics Lab Reflection discussion board on the course Blackboard site.
Be sure to include:
Be sure to include:
- What you did
- Why you did it
- Any interesting observations
- What you learned from doing the lab