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Construction of Ray Diagrams in Geometrical Optics: A Media-Focused Approach
ARTICLE

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Physics Education Volume 47, Number 6, ISSN 0031-9120

Abstract

Ray diagrams offer a powerful framework for understanding and characterizing many properties of optical systems, such as images and magnifications. However, this construction also introduces many conceptual hurdles for students. The idea of representing the propagation of waves by means of a light ray, which is a line or curve perpendicular to the wavefront, is the main cause of conceptual problems. Likewise, the geometrical optic constructions require a deep understanding of trigonometrical relations, which make the study of optical objects a hard subject. Nowadays, these conceptual problems can be overcome using applets in the presentation of lesson content. Therefore, we propose to create and include new curricular material using GeoGebra software. This approach allows us to construct step by step the optical properties of different objects such as mirrors and lenses. (Contains 4 figures.)

Citation

Santana, A., Rodriguez, Y. & Gomez, E.A. (2012). Construction of Ray Diagrams in Geometrical Optics: A Media-Focused Approach. Physics Education, 47(6), 715-720. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .

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