EXPERIMENT 10

FOCAL LENGTH OF THIN LENSES

I. ABSTRACT

This experiment examined the focal length of thin lenses. The determination of the focal length was
done by identifying the relationship between the distances between the object (the light), the image
projected in a screen, and the distance between two different positions of the lens. This was done using
three methods; The Thin Lens method, Conjugate-position method, and Direct method. Two types of lens
were used; Convex lens and Concave lens. In the Direct method, a convex lens and a screen was attached
to an optical bench and with the help of sunlight or any source of light, an upturned, mildly clear image
can be projected on the screen. In the thin lens method, it was found that the height of the image (I) and
the lateral magnification (m) is inversely proportional to the distance between the lens and the object.
Lastly, it was found using the conjugate method that the focal length, despite the lens being in different
positions, has a small difference in value.

II. INTRODUCTION

A lens is an optical system that transmits a light beam by means of refraction. The simplest form of
lens is called a thin lens which consists of a single piece of transparent material or refracting surfaces that
are very close to each other. These lenses can be in the form of a Convex lens (Converging lens) or a
Concave lens (Diverging lens). Lenses are usually used in glasses, telescopes, microscopes, magnifying
glasses, and etc. In this experiment, the focal length was determined by measuring the object and image
distance from the lens. A focal length is the distance between the center of a lens or curved mirror and its
focus. Different ways in experimentally measuring the focal lengths of both types of lenses was executed.
The magnification of images formed by convex lenses was also determined.

III. METHODOLOGY

The materials used are as follows:

 Optical bench
  30 cm ruler
 White screen with holder
 Light source with object and holder
 Convex lens with holder

Direct or Parallel-ray method

A convex lens as well as a white screen was attached to the optical bench with the white screen
settled at the zero mark. It was then brought outside and was focused towards a certain area pointing
directly at a specific object. With the help of the main light source, sunlight, an image upturned was
produced.

Thin Lens Equation

A light source and a screen were mounted on the optical bench with the screen settled at the 0.0
cm mark. The upward arrow in the light source served as the object. The height of the arrow was recorded
and this was listed as object size, O. A convex lens was mounted 20.0 cm from the object and then the
light source was adjusted so that a resulting sharp image can be projected on the screen. Once it has, the
distance between the screen and the lens was determined and listed as image distance, s’. The height of
the resulting image was also recorded and was listed as height of image, I. This was repeated with
distances of 30.0 cm, 40.0 cm, and 50.0 cm.

Conjugate Position Method

The screen was fixed at the 50.0 cm mark, this served as value D. Using the convex lens, both an
enlarged and a reduced image was produced. The position by which the lens produces an enlarged image
was marked as Position A. The object distances were also recorded with distance at position A marked as
SA and at position B, SB. The formula used to calculate the distance between the lens and the screen was

S’A = D - SA

The position by which a reduced image was produced was marked as Position B and the equation used to
find the distance between the lens and the screen was:

S’B = D – SB

The lateral magnification using the equation below was also calculated
 𝐼 𝑠′
𝑀= =
0 𝑠
The focal length was also calculated using the equation below

𝐷2 − 𝑑2
𝑓=
4𝐷
Concave lens focal length

From the Conjugate – position set up, the convex lens was placed at conjugate position B, the
object at 0.0 mark and the screen at the 50.0 cm mark. The convex lens was marked as L1 and the screen I.
The concave lens was placed in between L1 and I and was marked as L2. A resulting blurred image was
produced and was marked as the object for the concave lens. The distance between L2 and I was
calculated which served as object distance, s, a negative value. The screen was moved to a position I’
until a sharp enlarged image was produced. The distance between L2 and I’ prime was calculated. This
value served as image distance s’, a positive value. The focal length of the concave lens was calculated by
simply using the thin lens equation.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As mentioned, there are two types of lenses; convex and concave lenses. Concave lenses, also known
as diverging lenses are lenses that have its curvature curl inward while convex lenses, also known as
converging lenses, have a curvature that curls outward. The refraction of light differs between the two
lenses as shown in the figure below.
 As shown, light rays meet up at one point in convex lens, in other words, they converge. This is
why they’re also called converging lenses. Concave lenses in the other hand, light rays disperse, thus
giving it the name, diverging lenses.

Two types of images are formed through lenses, Real and Virtual images. A real image is formed
when light rays converge to a single point thus, these images can be formed through convex lenses. Once
these light rays diverge, this results to a virtual image. Since virtual images are formed through diverging
light rays, these images can be produced using concave lenses.

Table 1. Direct method or parallel-ray method

Trial Name of Object Image Distance s’ (cm)

1 Pole 9.8
2 Lamppost 9.5
3 Tree 8.5
𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑒 9.27

In the set-up of direct method or parallel-ray method of measuring the focal length of a convex
lens, three objects were the subject: A pole, lamppost, and a tree. The recorded image distance s’ was 9.8
cm, 9.5 cm, and 8.5 cm respectively. The computed 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑒 was 9.27 cm.

Table 2. Use of the thin-lens equation

Object height O = 3 cm
Lateral Lateral
Object distance Image distance Image height I magnification magnification Focal length f
s (cm) s’ (cm) (cm) 𝑠′ 𝐼 (cm)
𝑚1 = − 𝑚2 =
𝑠 𝑂
20.0 22.7 -3.3 -1.14 -1.1 10.6
 30.0 16.9 -1.6 -0.56 -0.53 10.8
40.0 14.9 -1.0 -0.37 -0.33 10.9
50.0 13.6 -0.8 -0.27 -0.27 10.7
Average value of focal length 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑒 10.8

The set-up of using thin-lens equation to calculate the focal length of a convex lens, the object
height O was measured by using a ruler with 3 cm as the recorded height. The white screen was then
mounted on the other side of the optical bench while the convex lens was mounted at 20.0 cm distance.
The screen slid along a bench until a sharp image was formed on the screen. The computed distance
between the screen and the lens was 22.7 cm and this serves as the image distance s’. The height of the
image was then recorded with a ruler which showed a height of -3.3 cm (I is negative because the image
is inverted). The same method was used to determine the s’, I , 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , and f of 30.0 cm, 40.0 cm, and
50.0 cm object distance s.

It was observed that as the object distance s increases, the image distance s’ decreases. It was
recorded in table 2 that there is a relationship between the object distance and object size and the image
distance and image size. Starting from a small value, as the object distance increases (i.e., the object is
moved farther to the lens), the image distance decreases; meanwhile, the image height increases.

From the thin lens equation we know that the image distance, s, is approximately equal to the
focal length, f, when the object distance, s, is very large. This may be seen by using the thin-lens equation
for a given focal length to plot the image distance as a function of object distance. In other words, if:

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑠′ 𝑠

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑠′ ∞

1 1
= = 𝑓 = 𝑠′
𝑓 𝑠′

Therefore, the focal length f is equal to the image distance s’ if the object distance s was made
very large, that is as 𝑠 → ∞.

In the same equation, we can determine that the object distance is equal to the focal length when
the image distance s’ is made very large as it reaches to infinity. This may be seen by using the thin-lens
equation for a given focal length to plot the object distance as a function of image distance. In other
words, if:

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑠′ 𝑠

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 ∞ ∞

1 1
= =𝑓=𝑠
𝑓 𝑠

f=s

We can then create a line graph showing s’ on the x-axis and 𝑚1 on the y-axis.

Image distance, s' (cm)

0 13.6 14.9 16.9 22.7

-0.07

-0.27
Lateral magnification, m

-0.47

-0.67

-0.87

-1.07

-1.27

Using the thin lens equation, we can derive the equation for the line graph:

1 1 1 𝑠′
𝑓
= 𝑠 + 𝑠′ with 𝑠 = 𝑚′

1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑠′ 𝑠′
𝑚′

1 𝑚 1 𝑚 1
𝑓
= − 𝑠′ + 𝑠′ or 𝑓 = (− 𝑠′ + 𝑠′ )−1
With this equation we can determine the focal length of the lens by substitution the given with the
acquired values:

−1.14 1 −1
𝑓 = (− + ) = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟏 𝒄𝒎
22.7 22.7

Table 3. Conjugate-position method

Distance between object and screen D = 50.0 cm

Conjugate Position A Conjugate Position B
Object distance s (cm) 15.3 34.6
Image distance s’ (cm) 34.7 15.4
Focal length f (cm) 10.6 10.7
Lateral magnification m -2.27 -0.45
Distance between conjugate positions A and B d = 19.3 cm
Focal length using conjugate-position f = 10.6 cm

In the set-up of using the conjugate-position method to measure the focal length of a convex lens,
the white screen was fixed at the 50.0 cm mark which was recorded as distance between object and screen
D. With the convex lens between the object and screen, a sharp enlarged image was found on the screen,
this was marked as conjugate position A, 𝑠𝐴 with an object distance s of 15.3 cm. Note that the lens was
closer to the object than it was to the screen. To determine the distance between the lens and the screen
use the equation:

𝑠′𝐴 = 𝐷 − 𝑠𝐴

𝑠′𝐴 = 50.0 𝑐𝑚 − 15.3𝑐𝑚 = 𝟑𝟒. 𝟕 𝒄𝒎 as the image distance s’ as shown in table 3 under conjugate
position A.

In order to get the distance between the length and the screen in conjugate position B 𝑠𝐵 , a sharp reduced
image was produced on the screen. Note that the lens was closer to the screen than it was to the object.
Then calculate the distance between the lens and the screen using the equation:

𝑠′𝐵 = 𝐷 − 𝑠𝐵

𝑠′𝐵 = 50.0 𝑐𝑚 − 34.6 𝑐𝑚 = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟒 𝒄𝒎 as the image distance s’ as shown in table 3 under conjugate
position B.
The lateral magnification was then calculated using the formula:

𝑠′
𝑚= −
𝑠

34.7 𝑐𝑚
𝑚𝐴 = − 15.3 𝑐𝑚 = −𝟐. 𝟐𝟕

15.4 𝑐𝑚
𝑚𝐵 = − = −𝟎. 𝟒𝟓
34.6 𝑐𝑚

The focal length of the convex lens for each equation was then calculated using the formula:

𝐷2 − 𝑑2
𝑓=
4𝐷

(50.0 𝑐𝑚)2 − (19.3 𝑐𝑚)2

𝑓= = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟔 𝒄𝒎
4(50.0 𝑐𝑚)

Table 4. Focal Length of a concave lens

Object distance s (cm) 34.6

Image distance s’ (cm) 10
Focal length f (cm) 7.76

Starting with a convex lens mark as at the conjugate position B, the object at the 0,0 cm mark and
the screen at the 50.0 cm mark of the optical bench

In measuring the focal length of a concave lens, mark the convex lens position 𝐿1 and the screen
position I. A concave lens was mounted between 𝐿1 and I, marking this as 𝐿2 . A blurred image was
obtained 𝐿2 and I in which was labeled as object distance s. The screen was moved to a position I’ until a
sharp enlarged image was seen on the screen. The distance between 𝐿2 and I’ and was labeled as the
image distance s’.

The focal length f of the concave lens was then calculated using the thin-lens equation to get the
calculated value of:

1 1 1
= ( + )−1
𝑓 𝑠 𝑠′
 1 1 1
=( + )−1 = 𝟕. 𝟕𝟔 𝒄𝒎
𝑓 34.6 10

For converging lens of focal length f, the object distance s should be at the focal point to form an
image at infinity. As the object approaches the focal plane, the image distance diverges to positive
infinity. This is expected because an object at the focal plane produces parallel rays that form an image at
infinity (i.e., very far from the lens). When the object is farther than the focal length from the lens, the
image distance is positive, so the image is real, on the opposite side of the lens from the object, and
inverted. When the object is closer than the focal length from the lens, the image distance becomes
negative, which means that the image is virtual, on the same side of the lens as the object, and upright.

V. CONCLUSION
According to the experiments we have done on thin lenses, we can conclude that:
1. To determine the focal length of a convex lens and a concave lens is with us getting a
clear picture of the image produced by the light. That means focusing distance of the
lens. Lens focal length convex lens of positive and negative concave.
2. According to the graph, the relationship between object distance and image distance of an
object is directly proportional. Value is the number of focal distance between the object
and the distance the object distance image.
3. The focal length obtained in part A has a closer value to the true value hence, it gave the
better result.

REFERENCES

1. Cabrera, R. B. (2015). The Lab of Physics (Vol. 2). Mandaue City, Philippines: Phiazarra
Publishing House.
2. Converging Lenses - Object-Image Relations. Retrieved from
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-5/Converging-Lenses-Object-
Image-Relations
3. Libretexts. (2019, February 24). 2.4: Thin Lenses. Retrieved from
https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book:_University_Physics_(
OpenStax)/Map:_University_Physics_III_-
_Optics_and_Modern_Physics_(OpenStax)/2:_Geometric_Optics_and_Image_Formation
/2.4:_Thin_Lenses
4. Imaging with a Lens. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2019, from
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~mpeterso/classes/phys301/geomopti/lenses.html