Optics B/C

[cngu23]

but i've only heard of one instance in which a test required calculus.

One instance in Optics? Or some other event?

Also, why is spherical aberration reduced if many lenses are used? It seems unintuitive to me because each lens has some spherical aberration and it piles up (intuitively, although I may be wrong).

I don't think you need calculus for optics. Even for events such as technical problem solving, calculus seems unlikely to be tested.

[JSGandora]

Aiight, thanks. That confirms what I thought. I just wanted to make sure because I'm a freshmen and just wanted to confirm my suspicion about Division C mathematics.

So, why is spherical aberration reduced if many lenses are used? It seems unintuitive to me because each lens has some spherical aberration and it piles up (intuitively, although I may be wrong).

[ichaelm]

Who told you that? I have never heard of that phenomenon. Has anyone else?

[JSGandora]

It was in my physics textbook (Giancoli).

[cngu23]

It was in my physics textbook (Giancoli).

I'm using the same textbook for studying but haven't noticed that section yet.

Spherical aberration is when the image isn't focused at a concrete point, so maybe multiple lens can refocus the image many times to reduce the aberration?

[JSGandora]

Spherical aberration is when there are two focal points

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure spherical aberration is when the light rays away from the center of the lens do not focus at the same point as rays near the center of the lens, but even still there is not definitely focal point, but there are circles of confusion:

[cngu23]

Spherical aberration is when there are two focal points

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure spherical aberration is when the light rays away from the center of the lens do not focus at the same point as rays near the center of the lens, but even still there is not definitely focal point, but there are circles of confusion:

yeah, I realized that a while after
Somehow, I was thinking of astigmatism lol

[Schrodingerscat]

So, why is spherical aberration reduced if many lenses are used? It seems unintuitive to me because each lens has some spherical aberration and it piles up (intuitively, although I may be wrong).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_corrector_plate
Non-spherical shaped lens, such as the Schmidt corrector plate, can correct by correcting light more or less at different radii. However, I am not aware of spherical lens being able to correct spherical aberrations.

[JSGandora]

I'm using the same textbook for studying but haven't noticed that section yet.

By the way, it's in the Optical Instruments chapter.

[cngu23]

I'm using the same textbook for studying but haven't noticed that section yet.

By the way, it's in the Optical Instruments chapter.

Alright, I will look it up later. But for now, shouldn't the textbook have an explanation for what it's saying?

@Schrodingerscat And I remember that the textbook stated something about all spherical mirrors having an aberration, which can be fixed using an elliptical mirror. But I don't understand how a spherical mirror can refocus the image of another spherical mirror and remove the aberration.

An elliptical mirror might be able to refocus and image produced by a spherical mirror and remove the aberration.