A magnifying glass increases the angular separation of the many point sources that make up an illuminated object.
For this to work, the light rays must emerge parallel to each other and the eye must be relaxed.
Remove the magnifier by clicking "Magn. OFF". Click "Strain" to focus the image on the retina.
Drag the source up and down and observe the angular separation of the two extremes on the retina.
Click "Relax" to relax the eye. Click "Magn. ON" to bring back the magnifier.
Drag the magnifying glass to find the spot where the rays emerge parallel to each other.
Verify that the source is focused on the retina.
Drag the source up and down and observe again the angular separation of the two extremes.
1. A magnifier glass makes objects look closer by increasing the apparent angular separation. 2. An object viewed with a magnifier looks dimmer because the light is spread out over a larger area.