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[Phys-L] Re: optics terminology



Oh yeah, and most people say battery when they mean cell; I'm not one
of them and I persist in correcting everyone, including Radio Shack people.

bc, curmudgeon and prescriptivist.

p.s. I hesitate to appeal to the military, but the Military
Standardization Hdb. agrees w/ my definition. And, just for fun I got
out my T-90 (top of the line Canon at the time) manual; they avoid the
whole problem by calling it the film plane mark!

Edmiston, Mike wrote:

I am in the same situation that John Mallinckrodt described. John D's
post threw me, and apparently my post and John D's post threw John M.

While I readily admit that all my physics texts define focal point as
the point where paraxial rays converge, and then go on to say that the
focal plane contains the focal point, I remain convinced that many
practioners define the focal plane as the plane where the desired image
is in focus.

I also agree with others that the definition of focal point is well
established and should not casually be dismissed. That's why I say that
I feel like John M. My confidence has been shaken. Because of Denker's
post I now realize my usage of focal plane does not conform to the
textbook definition even though I have high confidence I am in good
company with my description of focal plane.

When you put film or a CCD-array behind a lens to capture an image, do
you or do you not have the film or detector at the focal plane. I agree
that we could use "image plane" rather than focal plane, but is that
what most people say? Of course, if most people are wrong, it wouldn't
be the first time. Nor would it be the first time I was wrong.


Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu




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