Thin lens, mirror and Snell's law calculator

Thin lens and mirror equation for image distance, object distance or focal length, with magnification; Snell's law refraction and critical angle.

更新于 已验证的示例:8

更多选项
试一试
Image distance
cm
Image distance: 15 cm
有效数字:6;取最近值,等距时远离零
Object distance
30cm
Focal length (signed)
10cm
Magnification
−0.5
Image height (negative = inverted)
−1cm
Image
Real, inverted, reduced
Optical power
10D

With f = 10 cm and the object 30 cm away, the image forms 15 cm beyond the lens: real, inverted, reduced (m = −0.5).

Converging lens: ray diagram (heights stretched to fit)

objectF′Fimage
计算方法 S
  1. Solve the thin-lens / mirror equation

    1di=1f−1do=10.1−10.3⇒di=0.15 m\frac1{d_i} = \frac1f - \frac1{d_o} = \frac1{0.1} - \frac1{0.3} \Rightarrow d_i = 0.15\ \mathrm{m}
  2. Magnification

    m=−dido=−0.150.3=−0.5,hi=m ho=−0.01 mm = -\frac{d_i}{d_o} = -\frac{0.15}{0.3} = -0.5,\quad h_i = m\,h_o = -0.01\ \mathrm{m}
  3. Sign convention

    Real is positive: distances to real objects and images are positive, virtual ones negative; converging lenses and concave mirrors have f > 0. For a lens a real image forms on the far side.

关于Thin lens, mirror and Snell's law calculator

The thin-lens equation, 1/f = 1/dₒ + 1/dᵢ, links the focal length f, the object distance dₒ and the image distance dᵢ, and the same equation holds for spherical mirrors. Give any two and the calculator solves the third, then finds the magnification m = −dᵢ/dₒ, the image height, whether the image is real or virtual, and the power in dioptres (1/f with f in metres). Snell's law, n₁ sin θ₁ = n₂ sin θ₂, gives the refracted angle at a boundary and the critical angle beyond which light is totally reflected.

With the defaults, a converging lens of f = 10 cm and an object 30 cm away, the image forms 15 cm behind the lens, inverted and half size (m = −0.5), the arrangement in a camera. Light passing from air into water at 45° bends to 32.05°.

Signs follow the real-is-positive convention: virtual images have negative dᵢ, and diverging lenses and convex mirrors have negative f. Lenses are thin, so thickness and aberrations are ignored.

计算示例

Converging lens f = 10 cm, object at 30 cm

Calculate
Lens or mirror
Element
Converging lens
Solve for
Image distance
Focal length (size, without sign)
10 cm
Object distance
30 cm
Show distances in
cm
Image distance
15 cm
Magnification
-0.5
Image
Real, inverted, reduced
Optical power
10 D

核验来源:Python 3.8 fractions: 1/dᵢ = 1/10 − 1/30 ⇒ dᵢ = 15 cm, m = −½; P = 1/0.1 m

Object inside the focal length: magnifying glass

Calculate
Lens or mirror
Element
Converging lens
Solve for
Image distance
Focal length (size, without sign)
10 cm
Object distance
5 cm
Show distances in
cm
Image distance
-10 cm
Magnification
2
Image
Virtual, upright, magnified

核验来源:Python 3.8 fractions: 1/dᵢ = 1/10 − 1/5 = −1/10 ⇒ dᵢ = −10 cm

Diverging lens f = 10 cm, object at 20 cm

Calculate
Lens or mirror
Element
Diverging lens
Solve for
Image distance
Focal length (size, without sign)
10 cm
Object distance
20 cm
Show distances in
cm
Image distance
-6.66667 cm
Magnification
0.333333
Image
Virtual, upright, reduced

核验来源:Python 3.8 fractions: 1/dᵢ = −1/10 − 1/20 = −3/20 ⇒ dᵢ = −20/3 cm

Concave mirror at 2f: same size

Calculate
Lens or mirror
Element
Concave mirror
Solve for
Image distance
Focal length (size, without sign)
10 cm
Object distance
20 cm
Show distances in
cm
Image distance
20 cm
Magnification
-1
Image
Real, inverted, same size

核验来源:Python 3.8 fractions: 1/dᵢ = 1/10 − 1/20 ⇒ dᵢ = 20 cm, m = −1 (OpenStax UP3 §2.3)

常见问题

What is the thin lens equation?

1/f = 1/dₒ + 1/dᵢ, where f is the focal length, dₒ the object distance and dᵢ the image distance, all measured from the lens. For f = 10 cm and an object at 30 cm, 1/dᵢ = 1/10 − 1/30, so dᵢ = 15 cm. A negative dᵢ means a virtual image on the same side as the object, as seen through a magnifying glass.

How do you calculate the magnification of a lens?

m = −dᵢ/dₒ, and the image height is m times the object height. A negative m means the image is inverted; |m| above 1 means it is enlarged. An object 5 cm from a 10 cm magnifying glass gives dᵢ = −10 cm and m = +2, an upright virtual image twice the size. At dₒ = 2f the image is real, inverted and the same size (m = −1).

What is the critical angle for total internal reflection?

θc = arcsin(n₂/n₁), which exists only when light heads into a medium with a lower index (n₁ > n₂). Into air it is 41.8° from glass (n = 1.5), 48.6° from water (1.333) and 24.4° from diamond (2.417), which is why cut diamonds sparkle. A ray meeting the surface at more than θc from the normal is reflected completely, the principle behind optical fibre.

What is Snell's law?

n₁ sin θ₁ = n₂ sin θ₂: the refractive index times the sine of the angle from the normal is the same on both sides of a boundary. Light entering water (n = 1.333) from air at 45° continues at 32.0°, bent towards the normal because water has the higher index. Going the other way the ray bends away from the normal, and beyond the critical angle it cannot leave at all.

What is lens power in dioptres?

Power P = 1/f with f in metres, measured in dioptres (D). A converging lens with f = 10 cm has P = +10 D, and a diverging lens with f = −50 cm has −2 D. Spectacle prescriptions use this unit: short sight is corrected with negative (diverging) lenses and long sight with positive ones, and the powers of thin lenses in contact add.

“Thin lens, mirror and Snell's law calculator”有多准确?

准确性取决于输入值和方法的假设。十进制运算使用50位有效数字,但估算、数值方法和源数据的精度可能较低;显示时的舍入并不能消除这些限制。 已按独立来源核验的计算示例:8。 例如,“Converging lens f = 10 cm, object at 30 cm”根据Python 3.8 fractions: 1/dᵢ = 1/10 − 1/30 ⇒ dᵢ = 15 cm, m = −½; P = 1/0.1 m进行核验。

这种方法出自哪里?

OpenStax University Physics Volume 3, §2.3 Spherical mirrors and §2.4 Thin lenses; OpenStax University Physics Volume 3, §1.4 Refraction and §1.5 Total internal reflection; Hecht, Optics (5th ed.), Table 4.1 — refractive indices.

关于此计算器

1f=1do+1di,m=−dido;n1sin⁡θ1=n2sin⁡θ2,θc=arcsin⁡n2n1\frac1f = \frac1{d_o} + \frac1{d_i},\quad m = -\frac{d_i}{d_o};\qquad n_1\sin\theta_1 = n_2\sin\theta_2,\quad \theta_c = \arcsin\frac{n_2}{n_1}

来源

  1. OpenStax University Physics Volume 3, §2.3 Spherical mirrors and §2.4 Thin lenses
  2. OpenStax University Physics Volume 3, §1.4 Refraction and §1.5 Total internal reflection
  3. Hecht, Optics (5th ed.), Table 4.1 — refractive indices

已对照来源验证

此计算器包含 8 个已解示例,答案来自独立来源。这些示例会在测试套件中运行,你也可以在此运行验证。

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