Minifying Lenses!

Minifying lenses are lenses that make things, like this butterfly, look smaller:

You might not have heard the term 'minifying lens' before, but you probably see these lenses every day! Do you know anyone who's nearsighted - who needs glasses to see things that are far away? Their glasses use minifying lenses to spread the light out at the right angle for their eyes.

 

Minifying lenses are stronger or weaker based on how sharply they curve. In the images above, the top lens will spread the light out much more than the bottom lens. If you looked through these two lenses side by side, everything would look smaller through the top lens. Someone who needs stronger glasses receives lenses that are more curved than someone who is only slightly nearsighted.

Try holding your minifying lens close to a table or floor. How does the light under the lens look? How does it compare to a magnifying glass?