Magnifying Glass - Lens

A magnifying glass (called a hand lens in laboratory contexts) is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle (see image).

A sheet magnifier consists of many very narrow concentric ring-shaped lenses, such that the combination acts as a single lens but is much thinner. This arrangement is known as a Fresnel lens.

A magnifying glass can also be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to create a hot spot at the focus for fire starting.