How to make a magnifying glass at home?

Magnifying glass - is it necessary in principle in everyday life, is it worth the time to make it? There are a wide variety of lenses on sale. But sometimes you want to make something with your own hands. Sometimes it happens. You must have read Jules Verne's “Mysterious Island”. I never wanted to repeat the experience of Cyrus Smith, who made a wonderful magnifying glass from a watch. In fact, this simple device saved the life of the colonists. Are you intrigued? Then now we will tell you how to make a magnifying glass at home. Consider several ways.

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From a plastic bottle

You will need:

• A bottle of transparent (not colored!) Plastic with a semicircular top, without relief.
• Scissors.
• Two-component epoxy adhesive or “Superglue”.
• Skein of electrical tape. It will serve as a template for a magnifying glass.
• Marker.
• Syringe 20 ml with a needle.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Cut the top of the bottle with scissors. It is she who will be needed in the work.
2. Using a template from the electrical tape, cut out two identical convex circles. This is the two halves of the future lens.
3. Connect the two circles and glue the joint with epoxy glue or “Super glue”.
4. Dip the workpiece in water. This is necessary in order to check the tightness of the structure. Small bubbles will appear in non-taped areas. Mark these areas with a marker and then seal them.
5. Make a hole with a syringe needle.
6. Fill the space between the two plastic shells with salted water.

Important! You can use ordinary tap water, which added a little bleach. This is necessary so that the water does not deteriorate over time and does not turn green.

The magnifying glass is ready! Checked: using it is no less convenient than using a conventional store lens.

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Giant lens

But this is a truly valuable acquisition for an amateur astronomer. A magnifying glass of this size is quite expensive. And you can make it with the help of two glass covers from pans. It often happens that the non-stick coating erases over time, and the pan is safely disposed of. And the lid, which is quite decent in appearance, can be used to make a magnifying glass with your own hands.

So you will need:

• 2 glass lids of the same diameter.
• Stationery knife.
• Silicone sealant.
• Nippers.
• 8 mm drill.
• Medical syringe and 2 needles to it.

Operating procedure:

1. To get started, remove the handles from the covers, the metal rim around the edge of the product and the metal from the valve to release steam. The outer rim is easily broken by nippers, the handle is unscrewed (it is fastened to the bolt), and drill the valve metal with an 8 mm drill. It turns out two identical glass blanks. Wash and dry them well so that the glass is equally clean.
2. Seal the holes in the glass with masking tape, then carefully cut the tape to the diameter of the holes. Fill the holes with silicone. After it hardens completely, remove the tape. It will result in a neatly glued silicone surface. Naturally, do the same with another workpiece.
3. Apply silicone sealant to the contour of one of the glass parts, connect both parts. Coat the seam with sealant. After it fully polymerizes, repeat the operation. Carefully cut off excess silicone.
4. Now pierce one of the silicone “plugs” with two needles from medical syringes. One needle serves to bleed air, and with the help of the second, fill the space between two glasses with water with the addition of sodium chloride or bleach.

The giant magnifier is ready!

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Discover the world

Children aged 3 to 6 years old are desperate costumes. It’s good if they learn the causes of various physical phenomena from an early age. Of course, what you’ll do now can be called a magnifying glass with a stretch, but the experiment is quite beautiful.

You will need:

• Three liter jar.
• Thick thread.
• Transparent colorless polyethylene film.

Operating procedure:

1. Put an item in the jar. Cover the neck of the jar with film so that it sags a little. This is understandable: the lens should be convex.
2. Fasten the polyethylene with a thick thread, tape or twine.
3. Now pour water on the surface of the film. Water plays the role of a magnifying lens. The item inside the jar seems larger.

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Stock footage

There are several ways to make a magnifying glass. Choose the one you like best. If you will not use this item for its intended purpose, then you will be provided with an interesting time spent during the experiment!