Chapter 11

The Human Eye and the Colourful World

The Human Eye: It is a natural optical instrument which is used to see the objects
by human beings. It is like a camera which has a lens and screen system. The eye
ball is approximately spherical in shape with a diameter of about 2.3 cm. It
consists of a tough membrane called sclera, which protects the internal parts of the
eye.

Structure of the Human Eye

The various parts of eye and their functions :

Retina: It is a light sensitive screen inside the eye on which image is formed. It
contains rods and cones.

Cornea: It is a thin membrane which covers the eye trail. It acts like a lens which
refracts the light entering the eye.

Aqueous humour: It is fluid which fills the space between cornea and eye lens.
Eye lens: It is a convex lens made of transparent and flexible jelly like material.
Its curvature can be adjusted with the help of ciliary muscles.

Pupil: It is a hole in the middle of iris through which light enters the eye. It
appears black because light falling on it goes into the eye and does not come back.

Ciliary muscles: These are the muscles which are attached to eye lens and can
modify the shape of eye lens which leads to the variation in focal lengths.

Iris: It controls the amount of light entering the eye by changing the size of the
pupil.

Optical nerve: These are the nerves which take the image to the brain in the form
of electrical signals.

The human eye is roughly spherical in shape with a diameter of about 2.3 cm. It
consists of a convex lens made up of living tissues. Hence, human lenses are
living organs contrary to the simple optical lenses. The following table lists the
main parts of the human eye and their respective functions.

S.No. Human Eye Part Functions

1. Pupil Opens and closes in order to regulate and control the
amount of light.
2. Iris Controls light level similar to the aperture of a
camera.
3. Sclera Protects the outer coat.
4. Cornea A thin membrane which provides 67% of the eye’s
focusing power.
5. Crystalline lens Helps to focus light into the retina.
6. Conjunctive Covers the outer surface (visible part) of the eye.
7. Aqueous Provides power to the cornea.
 humour
8. Vitreous humour Provides the eye with its form and shape.
9. Retina Captures the light rays focussed by the lens and sends
impulses to the brain via the optic nerve.
10. Optic nerve Transmits electrical signals to the brain.
11. Ciliary muscles Contracts and extends in order to change the lens
shape for focusing.
Working of the eye:

 The transparent layer cornea bends the light rays through pupil located at the
centre part of the Iris.
 The adjusted light passes through the eye lens. Eye lens is convex in nature.
 So, the light rays from the objects are converged and a real and inverted
image is formed on retina.
 Then, retina passes the received real and inverted image to the brain through
optical nerves. Finally, the brain senses it as erect image.

Power of Accommodation

 The ability of the eye lens to focus nearby as well as the distant objects is
called power of accommodation of the eye.
 This is achieved by changing the focal length of the eye lens with the help of
ciliary muscles.
 Eye lens is made of a flexible, jelly-like.
 By relaxing and contracting the ciliary muscle, the curvature and hence the
focal length of the eye lens can be altered.
 When we see distant objects, the ciliary muscle relaxes and makes the eye
lens thinner.
 This increases focal length of the eye lens. Hence, the distant object can be
clearly seen.
  On the other hand, when we look at a closer object, the focal length of the
eye lens is decreased by the contraction of ciliary muscle.
 Thus, the image of the closer object is clearly formed on the retina.

Persistence of vision

If the time interval between two consecutive light pulses is less than 1/16 second,

Human eye cannot distinguish them separately.It is called persistence of vision.

The far point of the human eye

The minimum distance required to see the objects distinctly without strain is
called least distance of distinct vision. It is called as near point of eye. It is 25 cm
for normal human eye.

The near far point of the human eye

The maximum distance up to which the eye can see objects clearly is called as far
point of the eye. It is infinity for normal eye.

It is infinity for normal eye.

Defects in eye

A normal human eye can clearly see all the objects placed between 25cm and
infinity. But, for some people, the eye loses its power of accommodation. This
could happen due to many reasons including ageing. Hence, their vision becomes
defective.

The common defects of human eye.

Colour Blindness: A person having defective cone cells is not able to distinguish
between the different colours. This defect is known as Colour Blindness.

Cataract
Cataract is the clouding of the lens that prevents the formation of a clear, sharp
image. A cataract forms when old cells after they die, stick in a capsule wherein
with time a clouding over lens happens. Because of this clouding blurred images
are formed. Correction of cataract can happen through a surgery. An artificial lens
in place of the opaque lens is after removing it via surgery.

Myopia (Short-sightedness):

It is a kind of defect in the human eye due to which a person can see near objects
clearly but he cannot see the distant objects clearly

Myopia is due to

(i) excessive curvature of the cornea.

(ii) elongation of eyeball.

Correction:

Since a concave lens has an ability to diverge incoming rays, it is used to correct
this defect of vision. The image is allowed to format the retina by using a concave
lens of suitable power.
Power of the correcting convex lens:
The Lens formula, 1v−1u=1f can be used to calculate the focal length and hence, the power of
the myopia correcting lens.
In this case,
Object distance, u = ∞
Image distance, v =
person’s far point Focal length, f =?
Hence, lens formula becomes

In case of a concave lens, the image is formed in front of the lens i.e., on the same side of the
object.
Focal length = -Far point
Now, power of the required lens (P) = 1f(in m)

Hypermetropia (Long-sightedness):

is a kind of defect in the human eye due to which, a person can see distant objects
properly but cannot see the nearby objects clearly.

It happens due to

(i) decrease in the power of eye lens i.e., increase in focal length of eye lens.

(ii) shortening of eyeball.

Correction:

Since a convex lens has the ability to converge incoming rays, it can be used to
correct this defect of vision, as you already have seen in the animation. The ray
diagram for the corrective measure for a hypermetropia Eye
Power of the correcting convex lens: Lens formula, 1v−1u=1f can be used to calculate focal
length f and hence, power P of the correcting convex lens, where,
Object distance, u = -25 cm, normal near point
Image distance, v = defective near point
Hence, the lens formula is reduced to
1v+125=1f

Presbyopia:

It is a kind of defect in human eye which occurs due to ageing. It happens due to
the following reasons

(i) decrease in flexibility of eye lens.

(ii) gradual weakening of ciliary muscles.

In this, a person may suffer from both myopia and hypermetropia. By using a
bifocal lens with appropriate power.

Correction.
Bifocal lenses consist of both concave and convex lens, upper position consists of
the concave lens and lower portion consists of a convex lens.

Astigmatism: It is a kind of defect in human eye due to which a person cannot see
(focus) simultaneously horizontal and vertical lines both.

Correction: By using a cylindrical lens.

Cataract: Due to the membrane growth over eye lens, the eye lens becomes hazy
or even opaque. This leads to a decrease or loss of vision. This problem is called a
cataract. It can be corrected only by surgery.