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lens

thumb|A Burning glass|burning apparatus consisting of two [[biconvex lens]]

AI overview

A lens is a curved piece of transparent material that bends light rays to focus or spread them out. It matters because lenses are used in everyday tools like magnifying glasses and cameras to help us see things more clearly or capture images.

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Image: Large convex lens.jpg

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Commons category: Lenses
Commons gallery: Lenses

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~42 min read

Article

27 sections

Contents

History
Construction of simple lenses
For a spherical surface
Derivation
Sign convention for radii of curvature {{math|''R''{{sub|1}}}} and {{math|''R''{{sub|2}}}}
Sign convention for other parameters
Thin lens approximation
Derivation
Imaging properties
Lens equation
Magnification
Summary
Aberrations
Spherical aberration
Coma
Chromatic aberration
Other types of aberration
Aperture diffraction
Compound lenses
Non spherical types
Uses
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
Simulations

thumb|A Burning glass|burning apparatus consisting of two [[biconvex lens]]

A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (elements), usually arranged along a common axis. Lenses are made from materials such as glass or plastic and are ground, polished, or molded to the required shape. A lens can focus light to form an image, unlike a prism, which refracts light without focusing. Devices that similarly focus or disperse waves and radiation other than visible light are also called "lenses", such as microwave lenses, electron lenses, acoustic lenses, or explosive lenses.