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The Human Eye (Handout 3)

The document provides an overview of the human eye's structure and function, detailing how it detects light, forms images, and accommodates for different distances. It describes the roles of rods and cones in vision, as well as common sight defects such as myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, astigmatism, glaucoma, and cataracts, along with their corrections. The eye's protective features, including the orbits, eyelids, and tear glands, are also highlighted.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
34 views5 pages

The Human Eye (Handout 3)

The document provides an overview of the human eye's structure and function, detailing how it detects light, forms images, and accommodates for different distances. It describes the roles of rods and cones in vision, as well as common sight defects such as myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, astigmatism, glaucoma, and cataracts, along with their corrections. The eye's protective features, including the orbits, eyelids, and tear glands, are also highlighted.

Uploaded by

xavierburey2244
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Irritability HANDOUT

Biology
Grade 11
The Human Eye
The eyes are situated in bony sockets of the skull called orbits and have muscles attached to
move them. The orbits protect the back of each eye from damage, and the eyelids and
eyelashes protect the front from foreign particles. Tears, produced by tear glands above each
eye, keep the eyes moist, wash away foreign particles and contain an enzyme that destroys
micro-organisms.

The eye detects light that has been reflected from an object and converts it into nerve
impulses. The impulses are transmitted along the optic nerve to the brain which translates
them into a precise picture of the object.

Structure and functions of the parts of the human eye as seen in longitudinal section
Image formation
In order to see, light rays from an object must be refracted (bent) as they enter the eye so that
they form a clear image of the object on the receptor cells of the retina. Being convex in
shape, both the cornea and the lens refract the light rays.

Detection of light intensity and colour by the eye


The retina is composed of two types of specialised light-sensitive cells or photoreceptors:
 Rods function in low light intensities. They are responsible for detecting the
brightness of light and are located around the sides of the retina. Images falling on the
rods are seen in shades of black and white only.
 Cones function in high light intensities. They are responsible for detecting colour and
fine detail, and are mainly located around the back of the retina. The fovea is
composed entirely of cones which are packed closely together. There are three types
that detect either the red, green or blue wavelengths of light.
Focusing light onto the retina – accommodation
By changing shape, the lens makes fi ne adjustments to focus the light rays onto the retina.
Changing the shape of the lens to focus light coming from different distances onto the retina
is called accommodation and it is brought about by the ciliary muscles.

2
Control of light entering the eye
The size of the pupil controls the amount of light entering the eye. Muscles of the iris control
the pupil size.

3
Sight defects and how they are corrected
Short sight (myopia)
A person with short sight can
see near objects, but distant
objects are out of focus. Light
rays from near objects focus on
the retina; light rays from
distant objects focus in front of
the retina. Short sight occurs if
the eyeball is too long from
front to back or if the lens is
too curved (thick). It is
corrected by wearing diverging
(concave) lenses as spectacles
or contact lenses.

Long sight (hypermetropia)


A person with long sight can see distant objects, but near objects are out of focus. Light rays
from distant objects focus on the retina; light rays from near objects focus behind the retina.
Long sight occurs if the eyeball is too short from front to back or if the lens is too flat (thin).
It is corrected by wearing converging (convex) lenses as spectacles or contact lenses.

Old sight (presbyopia)


A person with old sight finds it increasingly difficult to see near objects clearly. It occurs
because the lens loses its elasticity as a person ages, and the ciliary muscles weaken so that
the lens is less able to curve. It is corrected by wearing converging lenses to look at near
objects.

4
Astigmatism
Both near and distant object appear blurry or distorted to a person who has astigmatism. It
occurs if the cornea or lens is unevenly curved so not all light rays are equally refracted and
not all focus on the retina. It is corrected by wearing unevenly curved lenses that counteract
the uneven curvature in the eye.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a condition in which the pressure of the fluid within the eye increases due to the
flow of aqueous humour from the eye being blocked. If left untreated, the optic nerve
becomes damaged and it can lead to blindness. The most common type develops slowly and
causes a gradual loss of peripheral (side) vision. Glaucoma is treated with eye drops to reduce
fluid production or improve the flow of fluid from the eye, or by laser treatment or surgery to
open the drainage channels.
Cataract
A cataract is a cloudy area that forms in the lens.
It develops slowly and, as it increases in size, it
leads to cloudy or blurred vision, halos forming
around lights, colours appearing faded and
difficulty seeing in bright light and at night. It is
usually caused by ageing and is usually corrected
by surgery to remove the clouded lens and to
replace it with an artificial lens.

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