Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
diverging lens
References
Images
Diagram showing cross-sections of common lenses on the left, with three converging lenses above and three diverging lenses below. On the right, light rays are shown passing through a converging lens, focusing at point F on the principal axis, and through a diverging lens, spreading outward as if originating from focal point F. Labels indicate axis, focal point, focal length, and focal plane.
Britannica AI Icon

diverging lens

optics
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Diagram showing cross-sections of common lenses on the left, with three converging lenses above and three diverging lenses below. On the right, light rays are shown passing through a converging lens, focusing at point F on the principal axis, and through a diverging lens, spreading outward as if originating from focal point F. Labels indicate axis, focal point, focal length, and focal plane.
common lenses (Left) Cross sections of standard forms of common lenses. (Right) Refraction of light by converging and diverging lenses, showing the principal axis, the principal focus (or focal point) F, the focal length f, and the focal plane.

A diverging lens, also known as a concave lens, is a piece of transparent material that causes light rays to spread apart. Unlike converging lenses, which are thicker in the center, diverging lenses are thinner in the center and thicker at the edges.12

When parallel light rays pass through a diverging lens, they refract and appear to spread out from a single point behind the lens. This point is called the focal point, and the focal length is the distance from the center of the lens to this point. The power of a diverging lens is measured in diopters and is always negative, indicating that it causes light to diverge.3

Diverging lenses form virtual images, meaning the image cannot be projected onto a screen and is only visible when looking through the lens. These lenses are used in various optical instruments, and their ability to spread light is a key characteristic in optics.41

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
6 Britannica Sources
  1. diopter
  2. lens
  3. converging lens
  4. positive lens
  5. lens formula: Top Questions
  6. technology of photography - Fish-eye lenses

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.