Thorlabs' Fresnel Lenses offer light focusing and collimation without the bulk associated with traditional lenses. Our Fresnel lenses are effectively 1.5 mm thick across their entire diameter, and this uniform thickness, combined with the optical-grade acrylic substrate, reduces their weight by over 90% versus glass lenses of comparable focal length and diameter.* These properties make them ideal for building compact optical systems.

So, if you hike a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) loop, your distance is 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), but your displacement is 0. Note that displacement is never greater than distance, because displacement represents the shortest distance possible.

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The linked Zemax files are a theoretical approximation of the performance of each lens. In place of a grooved structure, each file models a sloped surface with infinitesimal thickness at each radial position. This creates limitations, including the inability to view scattering information due to the pitch and groove spacing of the lens. In addition, the optical coefficients in each file are not from the data used at manufacturing; the coefficients are calculated using the necessary optical prescription to focus collimated light at the proper axial distance from the back surface of the lens. These limitations reduce the realistic modeling of the Fresnel lenses sold below.

Where v1 is the car's initial velocity (22.4 miles per hour or 36 kilometers per hour), v is the car's final velocity (0 miles per hour), and t is the time (30 seconds).

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To mount our Fresnel lenses, we recommend using our LMR05(/M), LMR1(/M), or LMR2(/M) Fixed Lens Mounts, which use a retaining ring to secure the optic. Do not overtighten the retaining ring since this may cause the grooves to wear. Our rubber Stress-Free Retaining Rings can be used in place of the standard aluminum rings to reduce the stress on the optic surface. The grooved side of the lens should be oriented to face the collimated beam, and the plano side should face the divergent source. The JEL10 Eye Loupe can help determine which side of the lens is grooved. Since the lenses are only 1.5 mm thick, they are too thin for mounts that hold optics with setscrews.

Where a is acceleration (0.33 meters per second squared), t is time (30 seconds), and v is final velocity (0 meters per second).

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If the object you want to calculate displacement for has constant acceleration, you can use the acceleration formula, based on Newton's third law of motion:

What Are Fresnel lenses used for

If a car traveling at 22.4 miles per hour (36 kilometers per hour) needs to come to a stop within 30 seconds, what would the vehicle's displacement be?

That's because displacement measures the shortest distance between an object's initial position and its final position. When it comes to displacement, the actual path the object takes does not matter; displacement always refers to the shortest path possible.

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In physics, displacement refers to an object's change in position. For example, if you walk 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) down the street to your friend's house, your displacement is 1 mile (1.6 kilometers).

In science-speak, distance is a scalar quantity, like speed, while displacement is a vector quantity, like velocity. Scalar quantities only have magnitude, while vector quantities have both magnitude and direction.

Physicists use the displacement formula to find an object's change in position. It sounds simple, but calculating displacement can quickly get complicated.

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So, after traveling 25 minutes at a constant velocity of 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour), this car has a displacement of 6.25 miles (10 kilometers).

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Our lenses are offered in 1/2", 1", and 2" diameters, and they provide high transmission in the 400 - 1100 nm spectral range (see graph at right). As shown in the schematic at the top of the page, they consist of a grooved side and a plano side. In order to minimize the substrate thickness, stepwise discontinuities are introduced at regular radial spacings, creating grooves. Hence, Fresnel lenses can be thought of as a series of concentric rings.

But if you hike a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) loop that starts and ends at the same point, your displacement is actually 0. And if your friend's house is 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away, but you take a meandering route rather than walking in a straight line, your total displacement is still 1 mile (1.6 kilometers).

Thorlabs also offers aspheric condensers with diffusive surfaces that provide uniform illumination in the far field, as well as a complete selection of lenses.

If the object has constant velocity, solving for displacement is straightforward. If not, you can use the initial and final velocities to calculate displacement using the acceleration formula. (And if you have multiple velocities, you may want to use a displacement calculator like the ones provided by Omni Calculator and Calculator Soup.)

Where d is displacement, a is acceleration, t is the time it took to get from the start point to the end point, and v is the final velocity.

If an object has constant velocity, you can use the velocity formula to calculate displacement. For example, f a car has an average velocity of 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour) and travels for 15 minutes, what is its displacement?

Fresnel lenses are often used to homogenize the output of LEDs, focus light onto a point detector, or concentrate sunlight into solar cells. For the lenses sold on this page, each step has a 10° pitch (illustrated by the diagram in the Specs tab). This pitch angle causes distortions that make the lenses unsuitable for imaging applications.

Distance refers to the total distance covered by an object, whereas displacement is the object's change in position. Wait, aren't those the same thing?

Where a is acceleration, v1 is the object's initial velocity, v is the object's final velocity and t is time. Using this formula to calculate displacement, you would have: