Optical Instruments

You are now familiar with some of the properties of idealized single lenses and simple spherical and plane mirrors. Almost all optical instruments are made up of a combination of lenses, some close together and others far apart. Real lenses and mirrors have many undesirable properties intimately interconnected with their desirable properties. By making careful and clever combinations of lenses one can enhance the desirable and minimize the undesirable characteristics. In this module you will begin the study of some simple combinations of mirrors and simple lenses; it will give you some insight into the complications and fascinating possibilities of complex optical systems