Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

The Effect of the thickness of the convex lens to the focal length INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND INFORMATION A convex lens is a type of lens that has a curve facing outwards. [1] It lets the ray of light to concentrate on one spot. This one spot is called a focal point and the distance between the lens and this point is called a focal length. This experiment was investigating on how thickness of the lens changes any characteristics of lenses. RESEARCH QUESTION How does the thickness of the convex lens affect the focal length? HYPOTHESIS The prediction for this investigation is that the focal length will change depending on the thickness of the lens. As the lens gets thicker, the focal point appears clearer and the focal length increases. VARIABLES Independent Variable: thickness of the convex lens (5 types of lens) Dependent Variable: the image distance and the focal length Fixed Variable: light source (ray box with three slits) (4V), object distance (distance between light and lens (8cm)) MATERIALS AND METHOD MATERIALS

Five different thickness of double sided convex lenses (lens 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) one white piece of paper to put it under the lens and on the wall One ray box One power Ruler Pencil White board to let the focal point appear

Equation to calculate focal length (thin lens formula) [2]

f = focal point do = distance of object (distance between the ray box and the lens) di = distance of image (distance between the lens an the image appearing on the white paper)

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

DIAGRAMS / PHOTOGRAPHS
A white board Move to define the focal point Paper light direction Convex lens Ray box

ruler

Object distance = 8cm

Figure 1.1: Lens 1 view from front

Figure 1.2: Lens 1 view from top (minimum)

Figure 2.1: Lens 2 view from front

Figure 2.2: Lens 2 view from top

Figure 3.1: Lens 3 view from front

Figure 3.2: Lens 3 view from top

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

Figure 4.1: Lens 4 view from front

Figure 4.2: Lens 4 view from top

Figure 5.1: Lens 5 view from front

Figure 5.2: Lens 5 view from top (maximum)

PROCEDURE 1. spread a sheet of paper on the table 2. plug in the power source to the outlet. Plug in the ray box to the power source. 3. Place the ray box on one side of the white paper 4. Use the three slits card for the ray box 5. Place the thinnest convex lens (lens 1) 8cm far apart from the ray box 6. Light up the ray box by turning up the power to 12V 7. Observe where the focal point is made with the lights on the white paper 8. Draw a line of the middle of the lens for the starting point with pencil on paper 9. Mark the focal point with a pencil on the paper 10. Measure the focal length from the marked lines to the point with a ruler 11. Record the length in the experiment table 12. Repeat step 5 to 11 with lens 2, 3, 4, 5 13. Repeat step 5 to 12 five times each for 5 trials 14. Create a table for the experiment result and calculate the average. The average should be calculated by dividing the total of 5 test results by 5.

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

RESULTS RAW DATA Table 1: Defining the image distance with the focal point from the ray of light
Type of Convex Lens Lens 1 Lens 2 Lens 3 Lens 4 Lens 5 Trial 1 19.60 7.50 9.50 4.20 6.20 Trial 2 21.70 8.70 9.50 6.60 6.80 Trial 3 21.00 18.30 7.50 9.20 7.50 Trial 4 20.30 6.00 8.10 7.00 7.60 Trial 5 19.60 6.20 5.10 4.90 7.70

Observations The light from the ray box was not clearly appearing on the white paper through the thin lenses. The image that was showing on the white paper seemed to be appearing directly without refracting in the lens. The shape of the light image was a thin, long rectangle which was the slit of the ray box. The unclear shape was shown when lens 1, 2, 3, and 4 was used. However the light through lens 5 appeared clearly on the white paper. The shape of the light image was a small circle that was brighter than the actual light coming out from the ray box because the light was concentrated on one place.

PROCESSED DATA AND ANALYSIS Table 2: Defining the image distance with the focal point from the ray of light
Type of Convex Lens Lens 1 Lens 2 Lens 3 Lens 4 Lens 5 Image distance (cm) Trial 1 19.60 7.50 9.50 4.20 6.20 Trial 2 21.70 8.70 9.50 6.60 6.80 Trial 3 21.00 18.30 7.50 9.20 7.50 Trial 4 20.30 6.00 8.10 7.00 7.60 Trial 5 19.60 6.20 5.10 4.90 7.70 Average 20.44 9.34 7.94 6.38 7.16

Calculation

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

Graph 1: Defining the image distance with the focal point from the ray of light
25.00

20.00

Image distance (cm)

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00 Lens 1 Lens 2 Lens 3 Type of Convex Lens Lens 4 Lens 5

Table 3: The Effect of the thickness of the convex lens to the focal length
Type of Convex Lens Lens 1 Lens 2 Lens 3 Lens 4 Lens 5 Image distance(cm) 20.44 9.34 7.94 6.38 7.16 Focal Length 0.173923679 0.232066381 0.250944584 0.281739812 0.264664804

Calculation

f = focal length do = distance of object (distance between the ray box and the lens) di = distance of image (distance between the lens an the image appearing on the white paper)

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

Graph 2: The Effect of the thickness of the convex lens to the focal point
0.35

0.3

0.25
Focal Length (cm)

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0 Lens 1 Lens 2 Lens 3 Types of Convex Lens Lens 4 Lens 5

The graph above is categorized in 5 different types of lenses. The result of this graph was calculated by the average of 5 tests that was done in the experiment. As it is shown, lens 1 had the furthest focal length which also means, there was a certain distance for the ray of light to appear clear on the board. Other lenses had similar results for the focal length. However lens 4 is an anomaly that is off the trend. The focal length was shorter than lens 5 which was supposed to be longer. Table 3 and Graph 2 were processed with the data calculated with the formula to define the focal length. However lens 4 remains as an anomaly after the calculation. DISCUSSION CONCLUSION The hypothesis for this investigation was proved in the experiment. The lens thickness changed the focal length however it did not make much difference. This is proved in the Tables and Graphs made above. Lens 1 is the minimum thickness of the lens and as the number increases, lens 5 is the maximum thickness of the lens. However the diagram of the lens is not in order. Lens 4 has a larger area and diagram than lens 5 however it is thinner than lens 5. According to Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Graph 1, and Graph 2, the image distance and focal length changes as the thickness of the convex lens get thicker.

Shelley Ohashi 11D 10/09/2012

EVALUATION Procedure The method for the experiment was well planned with a clear set of variables. The experiment was successfully done for 5 tests in two lessons including the processing the data. However the materials for this experiment, especially the types of convex lenses did not have the same diagram and certain pattern of thickness to measure the test accurately. Validity Other lights in the room that could be one of the distractions of defining the focal point will affect the image distance. The image distance was measured by human which is inaccurate for example, the angle where it was viewed was different each time or the focal point was shown in wide distance. Issues and Improvements Each trail did not necessary have the same range of results therefore; there is no certain answer for each lenses. The final processed data was constructed only from the trial averages. The reason was the general types of convex lenses. This investigation was focused on the thickness however there was not a certain pattern. Also the diagram of the lens was not decided therefore some lenses were thinner but had larger area than the thicker, smaller lenses. Additionally, depending on the diagram of the lens, the ray box was elevated to let the ray of light go through the centre of the lens. To improve this issue, either the diagram or the thickness should be included in the controlled variable. The thickness and diagram should be measured as well to be included in the data such as, 2mm, 5mm, 8mm, 11mm, etc. This experiment was investigating on different types of lenses which the graph was categorized by a bar graph. This had a difficulty of displaying a trend line. If it was a comparison experiment and a scatter graph was constructed, it is more obvious to analyse and explain a trend. There was some issue on planning the experiment with the limited resources. The experiment plan was changed a few times according to the formula that was going to be used. The test that was planning in the beginning was about changing the object distance and defining the focal length however it did not change anything. To prevent this issue in any other experiments, the plan should be tested first before the actual experiment starts. FURTHER WORK To expand this investigation, the object distance could be the set as an independent variable to find the relationship of the objectives in the thin lens formula. Another experiment could be done by comparison of convex lens and concave lens. BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Bortner, Larry. "Background." Lens Equation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.physics.uc.edu/~bortner/labs/Physics%203%20experiments/ Lens%20Equation/Lens%20Equation%20htm.htm>. [2] "Concave Vs. Convex." Where You Came From. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012. <http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/groundup/lesson/ glossary/term-full.php?t=concave_vs_convex>.