Demonstrations

Spherical Aberration

Code Number :	6A65.40
Disclaimer:	Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website. The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources. Further information regarding legal liability in use of demonstrations and labs will be found on the web site Injuries in School/College Laboratories in USA. The University of Iowa Disclaimers: University of Iowa Disclaimer All Rights Reserved..
Condition :	Good
Principle :	Spherical and Chromatic Aberration
Area of Study :	Optics
Equipment :	Optics Table, 30 cm focal length lens, 48 cm focal length lens, Slide Projector (Distant Light), Cardboard Stops.
Procedure :	Spherical Aberration - Use the slide projector as a distant collimated light source. Place the 30 or 48 cm lens in the optics rail and focus onto the paper screen. By stopping out the middle or the edge of the lens you can show that the focal point is different for the inner and outer portions of the lens.

References

Mark Riegel and Brain Holmes, "Model of Astigmatism," TPT, Vol. 26, # 2, p. 96, (February 1988).

Walter D. Furian, L. Munoz-Escriva, A. Pons, and Martinez-Corral, "Optical Aberrations Measurement with a Low Cost Optometric Instrument", AJP, Vol. 70, # 8, Aug. 2002, p. 857.

Se-yuen Mak, "Longitudinal Spherical Aberration of a Thick Lens", AJP, Vol. 55, #3, Mar. 1987, p. 247.

Xiangxi Chen et al., "Computer-Assisted Teaching of Optics," AJP, Vol. 55, No. 12, (December 1987), p. 1129.

Daniel Nahshol, "Optical Aberrations - Demonstration and Measuring", AJP, Vol. 33, # 11, Nov. 1965, p. 970.

G. B. Friedmann and H. S. Sandhu, "Longitudinal Spherical Aberration of a Thin Lens", AJP, Vol. 35, # 6, June 1967, p. 628.

Oh-1: Freier and Anderson, A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

O-170: "Spherical Aberration," DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.

O-370: "Stops - Apertures & Obstacles," DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.

36-6: "Demonstrations of Polarization," Physics Demonstration Experiments, Vol. 1 & II.

John H. Moore, Christopher C. Davis, Michael A. Coplan, "Spherical Aberrations," Building Scientific Apparatus 2^nd Edition, p. 146.

Ron Hipschman, "Image Quality," Exploratorium Cookbook III, pp. 167.1 - 167.3.

C. Harvey Palmer, "Experiment A10: Spherical Aberration," Optics - Experiments and Demonstrations, John Hopkins Press, 1962.

"5, Spherical Aberation", Experiments in Optics, Part 1, J. Klinger Scientific Apparatus Corp., Bulletin 101.

Mail Questions and Comments to: Dale Stille