What happens to the focal length of a lens when it is immersed in a medium with a higher refractive index than the lens material?
Practice Questions
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Q1
What happens to the focal length of a lens when it is immersed in a medium with a higher refractive index than the lens material?
Focal length increases
Focal length decreases
Focal length remains the same
Focal length becomes infinite
When a lens is immersed in a medium with a higher refractive index, its effective focal length decreases due to the reduced refractive power.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What happens to the focal length of a lens when it is immersed in a medium with a higher refractive index than the lens material?
Solution: When a lens is immersed in a medium with a higher refractive index, its effective focal length decreases due to the reduced refractive power.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand what a lens does. A lens bends light to focus it at a point called the focal point.
Step 2: Know what refractive index means. The refractive index is a measure of how much light bends when it enters a material.
Step 3: Identify the refractive index of the lens material. Lenses are made of materials with a specific refractive index.
Step 4: Recognize what happens when the lens is placed in a medium with a higher refractive index. The medium bends light more than the lens does.
Step 5: Understand that this change in bending affects the lens's ability to focus light. The lens becomes less effective at bending light.
Step 6: Conclude that the effective focal length of the lens decreases. This means the lens will focus light closer than it would in air.
