Question

A short-sighted person has a near point of 15 cm and a far point of 40 cm.
(a) Can he see clearly an object at a distance of:
(i) 5 cm?
(ii) 25 cm?
(iii) 50 cm?
(b) To see clearly an object at infinity, what kind of spectacle lenses does he need?

Answer 1

a) (i) A short-sighted person with a near point of 15 cm and a far point of 40 cm in front of the eye cannot clearly see an object at a distance of 5 cm because he can see an object only when it is placed at his near point (i.e., 15 cm).
(b) A short-sighted person can clearly see an object at a distance of 25 cm as it the normal near point of the eye. Moreover, the person's far point is located at 40 cm from the eye.
(c) The person cannot see the object clearly as it is at a distance of 50 cm, which is beyond his far point.
(d) In order to see an object clearly at infinity, the person should use concave lenses in his spectacles. A concave lens first diverges the light rays from the object at infinity to form a virtual image at the eye's far point. The eye lens then easily focusses the rays from the eye's far point to form a clear image on the retina.