Learn

You can learn about lenses and optics by trying this simple experiment to make your own mini movie projector, using just a magnifying glass, a television, and a simple screen to project the image onto.

What You’ll Need

• A magnifying glass
• A room that you can make dark
• A television set
• A sheet of white paper

What to Do

1. Go into the room and pull down the shades, or if it’s night, turn off the light.
2. Turn on the television. Now, stand a few feet away from the TV and hold up your lens and your paper so that the light shines through the lens and onto the paper.
3. The paper should serve as a movie screen, and the television as your movie projector.
4. Slowly move the lens closer to and further from the light source– when you feel that it is focused, take a look at the picture. What do you notice that is different from the image on the television?