Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 6: Problem 2

Explain why a flat piece of glass does not bring light to a focus while a curved piece of glass can.

Short Answer

Expert verified
A flat piece of glass does not change the parallelism of light rays due to identical refraction on both parallel surfaces, hence it doesn't bring light to a focus. However, a curved piece of glass or a lens has varying angles of incidence, causing different refraction on edges and nearer to the axis, making light rays to converge to a focus after passing through it.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding how light behaves

Light moves in straight lines in a homogeneous medium. When it passes from one medium to another non perpendicularly, it changes its direction, a phenomenon called refraction.
02

Refraction on flat glass

When light passes through a flat piece of glass, both interfaces (air-glass and glass-air) are parallel. Because of its flatness, the incident angles at both interfaces are equal. Hence, after passing through, light returns to its original direction. This is because the angles of incidence and refraction at both interfaces are the same due to opposing refraction effects. As a result, parallel incident light rays remain parallel after they pass through the flat glass.
03

Refraction on a curved piece of glass

A curved piece of glass, or lens, has non-parallel surfaces. The light rays that pass through its edges will intersect the axis at steeper angles compared to the ones closer to the axis. Due to the varying angles of incidence, the refractions on the edges are stronger than those near the axis. The result is that the light rays converge to a focus on the other side of the lens.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

How are the images made by an X-ray telescope different from those made by a medical X-ray machine?

Why are radio telescopes so large? Why does a single radio telescope have poorer angular resolution than a large optical telescope? How can the resolution be improved by making simultaneous observations with several radio telescopes?

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a small telescope in Earth's orbit versus a large telescope on a mountaintop.

Explain why a Cassegrain reflector can be substantially shorter than a refractor of the same focal length.2. Explain why a flat piece of glass does not bring light to a focus while a curved piece of glass can.

What is a spectrograph? Why do many astronomers regard it as the most important device that can be attached to a telescope?
See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

Classical Mechanics

Read Explanation

Linear Momentum

Read Explanation

Work Energy and Power

Read Explanation

Astrophysics

Read Explanation

Further Mechanics and Thermal Physics

Read Explanation

Modern Physics

Read Explanation
View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free