PHY138 – Last Waves Lecture
Today’s overview
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The Resolution of Optical Instruments
Introduction to Kimberly Strong and
Electromagnetism Quarter
Reading Assignment
Today’s reading assignment from the text by
Knight was:
Chapter 23, Section 23.8
(This material is part of the course, and may
appear on the final exam in April)
Reading Assignment for January, 2006
Between now and January 9, please read
Chapter 25, “Electric Charges and Forces”,
Sections 25.1-25.6.
There will be a masteringphysics Pre-Class
quiz on Chapter 25 material, due Mon. Jan 8
by 10:00 AM.
Resolution
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The spot size in an image has a minimum of
about 2.5 wavelengths
In order for two spots to be separated, or
“resolved”, the corresponding points on the
object must have an angular separation of at
least (wavelength / lens diameter)
In a microscope, this means points on the
object must be separated by more than a
wavelength in order to be resolved.