Chapter 11 The Human Eye and Colourful World Solutions
Question - 11 : - Make a diagram to show how hypermetropia is corrected. The near point of a hypermetropic eye is 1 m.
Answer - 11 : - What is the power of the lens required to correct this defect? Assume that the near point of the normal eye is 25 cm.
Answer-
An individual suffering from hypermetropia can see distinct objects clearly but he or she will face difficulty in clearly seeing objects nearby. This happens because the eye lens focuses the incoming divergent rays beyond the retina. This is corrected by using a convex lens. A convex lens of a suitable power converges the incoming light in such a way that the image is formed on the retina, as shown in the following figure.
The convex lens creates a virtual image of a nearby object (N’ in the above figure) at the near point of vision (N) of the individual suffering from hypermetropia.
The given individual will be able to clearly see the object kept at 25 cm (near point of the normal eye), if the image of the object is formed at his near point, which is given as 1 m.
Object distance, u= – 25 cm
Image distance, v= – 1 m = – 100 m
Focal length, f
Using the lens formula,
A convex lens of power +3.0 D is required to correct the defect.
Question - 12 : - Why is a normal eye not able to see clearly the objects placed closer than 25 cm?
Answer - 12 : - A normal eye is not able to see the objects placed closer than 25 cm clearly because the ciliary muscles of the eyes are unable to contract beyond a certain limit.
Question - 13 : - What happens to the image distance in the eye when we increase the distance of an object from the eye?
Answer - 13 : - The image is formed on the retina even on increasing the distance of an object from the eye. The eye lens becomes thinner and its focal length increases as the object is moved away from the eye.
Question - 14 : - Why do stars twinkle?
Answer - 14 : - The twinkling of a star is due to atmospheric refraction of starlight. The starlight, on entering the earth’s atmosphere, undergoes refraction continuously before it reaches the earth. The atmospheric refraction occurs in a medium of gradually changing refractive index.
Question - 15 : - Explain why the planets do not twinkle?
Answer - 15 : - Unlike stars, planets don’t twinkle. Stars are so distant that they appear as pinpoints of light in the night sky, even when viewed through a telescope. Since all the light is coming from a single point, its path is highly susceptible to atmospheric interference (i.e. their light is easily diffracted).
Question - 16 : - Why does the Sun appear reddish early in the morning?
Answer - 16 : - White light coming from the sun has to travel more distance in the atmosphere before reaching the observer. During this, the scattering of all colored lights except the light corresponding to red color takes place and so, only the red colored light reaches the observer. Therefore, the sun appears reddish at sunrise and sunset.
Question - 17 : - Why does the sky appear dark instead of blue to an astronaut?
Answer - 17 : - The sky appears dark instead of blue to an astronaut, as scattering of light does not take place outside the earth’s atmosphere.