Optics
The Fresnel Lens
← All Exhibits
This thin, flat sheet magnifies like a thick glass lens.
A Fresnel lens keeps only the curved surfaces of an ordinary lens, cut into thin rings and laid flat. It bends light the same way, with much less material. Lighthouses use huge Fresnel lenses to send their beams far out to sea.
Read the Greek letters through the lens. Move it closer and farther: when do they look biggest? Then try our interactive convex lens and watch how moving an object changes its image.
In your textbook