A lens that produces divergent rays from a distant point is called a

• A. Diverging lens
• B. Converging lens
• C. Plano-convex lens
• D. Concave lens

Answer: (A)

Diverging lens. When light from a distant object reaches a lens, the rays are essentially parallel. A lens that makes those parallel rays spread apart is a diverging lens, bending light outward and giving negative focal length. For an object at infinity, this lens produces a virtual image on the same side as the object. The alternative name concave lens describes the same physical type, but the standard label in this context is diverging lens. In contrast, a converging lens would bring parallel rays together to form a real image, and a plano-convex lens is typically associated with converging behavior depending on orientation.