glass plate, we shall find that a tolerably good image of any object placed in front of the box will be formed upon the glass plate. The light rays from all points of the object, BD, Fig. 70, will pass straight through the hole H, and illuminate the ground glass screen at points immediately opposite them, forming a faint inverted image of the object BD. The purpose of the hole H is to prevent the rays from any one point of the object from falling upon any other point on the glass screen than the point immediately opposite to it, therefore the smaller we make H, the more distinct will be the image obtained. Reducing the size of H in order to produce a more distinct image has the effect of causing the image to become very faint, as the smaller the hole in H, the smaller the number of rays that can pass through from any point of the object. By enlarging the hole H gradually, the image will become more and more indistinct until such a size is reached that it disappears altogether.
If in this enlarged hole we place a double convex lens, LL, Fig. 71, whose focal length suits the length of the box, the image produced will be brighter and more distinct than that formed by the aperture, H, since the rays which proceed from any point of the object will be brought by the lens to a focus on the glass screen, forming a bright
distinct image of the point from which they come. The image owes its increased distinctness to the fact that the rays from any one point of the object cannot interfere with the rays from any other point, and its increased brightness to the great number of rays that are collected by the lens from each point of the object and focussed in the corresponding point of the image. It will be evident from a study of Fig. 71 that the image formed by a convex lens must necessarily be inverted, since it is impossible for the rays from the end, M, of the object to be carried by refraction to the upper end of the image at n. The relative positions of the object and image when placed at different distances from the lens are exactly the same as the conjugate foci of light rays as shown in Fig. 69.
The length of the image formed by a convex lens is to the length of the object as the distance of the image is to the distance of the object from the lens. For example, if a lens having a focal length of 12 inches is placed at a distance of 1000 feet from some object, then the size of the image will be to that of the object as 12 inches to 1000 feet, or 1000 times smaller than the object; and if the length of the object is 500 inches, then the length of the image will be the 1/1000th part of 500 inches, or 1/2 inch.
The image formed by the convex lens in Fig. 71 is known as a real image, but in addition convex lenses possess the property of forming what are termed virtual images. The distinction can be expressed by saying, real images are those formed by the refracted rays themselves, and virtual images those formed by their prolongations. While a real image formed by a convex lens is always inverted and smaller than the object, the virtual image is always erect and larger than the object. The power possessed by convex lenses of forming virtual images is made use of in that useful but common piece of apparatus known as a reading or magnifying glass, by which objects placed within its focus are made larger or magnified when viewed through it; but in order to properly understand how objects seem to be brought nearer and apparently increased in size, we must first of all understand what is meant by the expression, the apparent magnitude of objects.
The apparent magnitude of an object depends upon the angle which it subtends to the eye of the observer. The image at A, Fig. 72, presents a smaller angle to the eye than the angle presented by the object when moved to B, and the image therefore appears smaller. When the object is moved to either B or C, it is viewed under a much