Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Magnifying Lenses!


Magnifying lenses are lenses that make things look bigger. You've probably used a magnifying glass before, so this example of a magnifying lens in action will probably look familiar:


 However, magnifying lenses can do a lot of other things, too! For example, did you know that people who are farsighted - who need help seeing things that are close to them - use magnifying lenses in their glasses?

You can also use a magnifying lens to create interesting patterns, like this:


The possibilities are endless

Here, the lens is imaging the ceiling lights onto the ground. Because each ceiling light is at a slightly different location, the spots of light are spread out on the ground.

Another fun activity is to hold your magnifying lens between a window and a wall:



See how an image of the window shows up on the wall? But the image is upside-down! You can see a reflection of the rightside-up window on the surface of the lens.


Magnifying lenses focus light, or bring rays of light closer together. The more curved the lens is, the shorter the distance required for the light to focus. Also, the more curved the lens, the larger everything will look when you hold it close to something.

Try holding your magnifying lens at arms' length and looking through it. Do you see anything unusual? How does this compare to a minifying lens?