Introduction

The purpose of this experiment is to study the formation of images from a thin spherical lenses. In
this experiment the focal length of lens will be determined by making use of different methods. For
converging lenses three different methods will be used as will be seen later in this report. For
diverging lenses the focal length will be determined using methods in determing the focal length of
converging lenses. The converging lens produced an upside-down image of the object at its focal
point which is why the focal length of a converging lens can be measured directly. The focal length
of a diverging lens cannot be measured directly because the image produced is on the same side as
the measured objects regardless of the distance.

Apparatus
In this experiment we will be making use of the following:

• 1x Converging Lense
• 1x Diverging Lense
• 1x Light Source
• 1x Optical Bench

Results & Data Analysis

Table 1:

s±ΔΔs (cm) u1±ΔΔu1 (cm) u2±ΔΔu2 (cm) d±ΔΔd (cm)

79±0.05 39.3±0.05 43.0±0.05 03.7±0.10
81±0.05 37.2±0.05 47.5±0.05 10.3±0.10
83±0.05 32.3±0.05 51.1±0.05 18.8±0.10
85±0.05 30.3±0.05 53.3±0.05 23.0±0.10
87±0.05 29.5±0.05 56.2±0.05 26.7±0.10
89±0.05 29.0±0.05 59.3±0.05 30.3±0.10

79+ 81+ 83+85+87 +89

μ= =86
6

Σ( x−μ )2 Σ ( x−86)2
σx =
√ n √
=
6
=3.42
 d2
Graph of =s−4 f
s

s vs d^2/s
12

10

8
d^2/s (cm)

0
78 80 82 84 86 88 90
s (cm)

centroid: (84;4.9)

Table 2:

V1±ΔVV1 (cm) |m|±ΔV|m| (cm) f±ΔV f (cm)

39.7±0.10 1.01±3.82 x 10−3 19.75±0.12
43.8±0.10 1.18±4.28 x 10−3 20.09±0.12
50.7±0.10 1.57±5.53 x 10−3 19.73±0.11
54.7±0.10 1.81±6.30 x 10−3 19.47±0.10
57.5±0.10 1.95±6.70 x 10−3 19.49±0.10
60.0±0.10 2.07±7.02 x 10−3 19.54±0.10

Table 3:
s±ΔVs (cm) u±ΔVu (cm) v±ΔVv (cm)
78±0.05 38.6±0.05 39.4±0.10
80±0.05 34.0±0.05 46.0±0.10
82±0.05 32.1±0.05 49.9±0.10
84±0.05 30.8±0.05 53.2±0.10
86±0.05 30.0±0.05 56.0±0.10

uv=f (u+ v)

f(u+v) vs uv
1700

1650

1600

1550
uv

1500

1450

1400
77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87
f(u+v)

1564−1520.64
mean: =21.58
80−78

therefore f = 21.58

Calculations
d= u1 – u2

1 1 1
= +
f u v

s 2−d 2
f=
4s

v
f=
|m|+1

v
m=−( )
u
 Discussion
For the first part of the experiment the focal length of a converging object. This is done by
reflecting an image of a distant object. By doing this we can conclude for large distances

1 1 1
lim u →∞ [ = + ]
f u v

1 1
≈
f v

therefore f ≈v

where f is the focal length

where u is the distance between object and lense
and v the distance between the lense and the image

from this experiment it was measured that the v is 18.5 cm±0.05 cm

therefore f = 18.5 cm±0.05 cm

the focal length determined in table 2 are close to the estimated value calculated. Meaning the
methods of determining the focal point is accurate to a certain degree. From table 1 is can be seen
that as s increases, d will increase. Meaning that s is proportional to d. In table 2 the values of f
fluctuate as v increases. From this observation we can assume the focal length is both dependent on
the magnification of the image and the distance between the lens and the image. As v increases the
magnification of the image increases. From table 3 we can deduce that v is directly proportional to
s and u.

during the experiment there were multiple issues which could cause errors in the results. Firstly the
age of the tools could be one of the factors. As the tools become more old they become more
unreliable. Another could be light. The light from the outside sources could cause the lens to reflect
the image differently due to interference. Another error could be due to human error. In one of the
experiments the lens werent at the same angle for all tests as the were twisted at some points.
Another possibility could be due to the people conducting the experiment do not read the values off
correctly.

Conclusion
We achieved what we aimed to do in this experiment. The results we obtained from the different
methods of tests are similar. The focal length of a diverging lens was calculated using methods
involving converging lens. The results would we be more accurate if limited the interference of
light from the outside. The errors could have been reduced if the distances measured were smaller.
Overall it can be said the experiment was a success.
 Questions
Question 1:

s = u +v
d = u-v

u=d+v

s = 2v +d

s−d
v=
2

similarly

s+d
u=
2

1 2 2
= +
f s+d s−d

1 4s
=
f s2−d2

s 2−d 2
f=
4s

Question 2:

1 1 1
= +
f u v

1 u+ v
=
f uv

uv
f=
v
u ( +1)
u

v
f=
v
+1
u
 v
since m=
u
v
f=
m+1

Question 3:

it doesnt mattter which of the two lenses faces the object. Because of commutative laws regardless
of which lens comes first the focal length of the the length will not be affect. The focal length will
not be affected only if the position of the centre of the lens do not change. The experiment showed
as that there was a clear image regardless of which lens faced the object.