What is the area of the sun's image on the paper?

AI Thread Summary
To find the area of the sun's image on paper, the camper uses the thin lens formula and the relationship between the focal length, distance to the sun, and the sun's diameter. The correct calculation involves using the focal length of 10.8 cm and the distance from the Earth to the sun to determine the height of the sun's image. After calculating the height, the area is found using the formula A = π/4 * h^2. The camper initially made an error by using the wrong focal length but corrected it to solve the problem. Understanding the thin lens formula is crucial for similar calculations.
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Homework Statement


A camper is trying to start a fire by focusing sunlight onto a piece of paper. The diameter of the sun is 1.39e9 m, and its mean distance from the Earth is 1.50e11 m. The camper is using a converging lens whose focal length is 10.8 cm.
(a) What is the area of the sun's image on the paper?
(b) If 0.568 W of sunlight passes through the lens, what is the intensity of the sunlight at the paper?

Homework Equations


(a) A=.25*pi*(height of sun's image)^2 and m=-di/do
(b) I=P/A

The Attempt at a Solution


B should not be an issue if I can find A. I do not know how to find the height of the sun's image.
 
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Try 1/f = 1/do + 1/di

This is the "thin lens" formula. You'll use it a lot when studying lenses. You might want to commit it to memory.
 
collinsmark said:
Try 1/f = 1/do + 1/di

This is the "thin lens" formula. You'll use it a lot when studying lenses. You might want to commit it to memory.

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate your quick response! :smile: That is one of the main formulas that we use.

I managed to solve the problem by taking the focal length over the distance Earth to sun and then multiplying that by the diameter of the sun.
(.108/ 1.5E-11) * 1.39E9= h
then taking pi/4 * h^2 =A

My problem before was that I was using 10.8 instead.
 
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