There are several advantages of our having two eyes instead of one.
It gives a wider field of
view. A human being has a horizontal field of view of about 150° with one eye and of about
180° with two eyes. The
The brain interprets these signals, and finally, processes the information so that we perceive
objects as they are.
The minimum distance, at which objects can be seen most distinctly without strain, is called
the least distance of distinct vision. It is also called the near point of the eye. For a young
adult with normal vision, the near point is about 25 cm. The farthest point upto which the eye
can see objects clearly is called the far point of the eye. It is infinity for a normal eye. You
may note here a normal eye can see objects clearly that are between 25 cm and infinity.
Myopia is also known as near-sightedness. A person with myopia can see nearby objects
clearly but cannot see distant objects distinctly. A person with this defect has the far point
nearer than infinity.
This defect may arise due to (i) excessive curvature of the eye lens, or (ii) elongation of
the eyeball. This defect can be corrected by using a concave lens of suitable power. This is
illustrated in Fig. 11.2 (c).A concave lens of suitable power will bring the image back on to
the retina and thus the defect is corrected.
Hypermetropia is also known as far-sightedness. A person with hypermetropia can see
distant objects clearly but cannot see nearby objects distinctly. The near point, for the
person, is farther away from the normal near point (25 cm).This is because the light rays
from a closeby Robject are focussed at a point behind the retina as shown in Fig. 11.3 (b).
This defect arises either because (i) the focal length of the eye lens is too long, or (ii) the
eyeball has become too small. This defect can be corrected by using a convex lens of
appropriate power.
The power of accommodation of the eye usually decreases with ageing. For most people,
the near point gradually recedes away. They find it difficult to see nearby objects comfortably
and distinctly without corrective eye-glasses. This defect is called Presbyopia.
The various colours seen are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red .The
acronym VIBGYOR will help you to remember the sequence of colours. The band of the
coloured components of a light beam is called its spectrum.
Isaac Newton was the first to use a glass prism to obtain the spectrum of sunlight. He tried to
split the colours of the spectrum of white light further by using another similar prism.
However, he could not get any more colours. He then placed a second identical prism in an
inverted position with respect to the first prism. This allowed all the colours of the spectrum
to pass through the second prism. He found a beam of white light emerging from the other
side of the second prism. This observation gave Newton the idea that the sunlight is made
up of seven colours.
A rainbow is a natural spectrum appearing in the sky after a rain shower . It is caused by
dispersion of sunlight by tiny water droplets, present in the atmosphere.
The twinkling of a star is due to atmospheric refraction of starlight. The starlight, on
entering the earth’s atmosphere, undergoes refraction continuously before it reaches the
earth.
The earth’s atmosphere is a heterogeneous mixture of minute particles. These particles
include smoke, tiny water droplets, suspended particles of dust and molecules of air. When a
beam of light strikes such fine particles, the path of the beam becomes visible. The light
reaches us, after being reflected diffusely by these particles. The phenomenon of
scattering of light by the colloidal particles gives rise to Tyndall effect
The molecules of air and other fine particles in the atmosphere have size smaller than the
wavelength of visible light. These are more effective in scattering light of shorter
wavelengths at the blue end than light of longer wavelengths at the red end. The red
light has a wavelength about 1.8 times greater than blue light.
The ability of the eye to focus on both near and distant objects, by adjusting its focal length,
is called the accommodation of the eye.
• The smallest distance, at which the eye can see objects clearly without strain, is called the
near point of the eye or the least distance of distinct vision. For a young adult with normal
vision, it is about 25 cm.
• The common refractive defects of vision include myopia, hypermetropia and presbyopia.
Myopia (short-sightedness – the image of distant objects is focussed before the retina) is
corrected by using a concave lens of suitable power. Hypermetropia (far-sightedness – the
image of nearby objects is focussed beyond the retina) is corrected by using a convex lens
of suitable power. The eye loses its power of accommodation at old age.
• The splitting of white light into its component colours is called dispersion.
• Scattering of light causes the blue colour of sky and the reddening of the Sun at sunrise
and sunset.
