Many people use magnifying lenses to intensify the light rays to kill insects. You probably have seen or used it to get a better view of tiny objects or insects like ants.
Can You Burn Ants with a Magnifying Glass? You can burn ants with a magnifying glass as it increases the intensity of sun rays many times and ignites the exoskeleton of these insects. In addition, it can create a focal point by converging the refracting light rays and increasing the temperature from 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
The temperature of the Sun is around 5770° Kelvin, and the light rays emitting from a bright sun are too hot to burn the objects after getting converged.
You can use high-intensity sun rays to put ants on fire as they cannot tolerate high temperatures and die due to heat.
How Do You Burn Ants with a Magnifying Glass?
A magnifying glass is usually used to enlarge the image of an object that cannot be clearly seen with the naked eye as it maximizes the image several times.
Many of you have burnt insects in the lawn using a magnifying glass, which seems like great fun. However, a few people are curious and dig deeper within the literature to know the actual reasons for the fire.
This glass helps concentrate the rays of the Sun by converging the photons to a single point, resulting in increased intensity. As a result, the exposed surface gets heated up due to the high intensity of sun rays.
It refers to solar ignition, as sun rays start a fire or burn objects. It does not alter the actual intensity but directs multiple rays to a small surface area.
In addition, it is one of the easiest ways of converting the light energy of the Sun into heat energy that can initiate a fire on the ground surface if a flammable object is present there.
Furthermore, it can help increase the temperature from 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much more than their tolerance, leading to igniting their hard exoskeleton.
You do not have to make a lot of efforts to burn ants with a magnifying glass as it contains a convex lens that can efficiently increase the intensity of light rays.
Light rays are refracted at the convex lens and converge at the principal focal point. Accordingly, you have to get a glass of an ideal size that can help capture these tiny insects.
Keep the lens over a group of insects at a distance of hand. It has to be slightly tilted and raise a few inches upward from the side away from you.
After that, move it slowly until the focal point is created over the insects, and sunlight falls directly over their bodies.
Wait for a 10 to 15 seconds and you can see flame generated when their bodies are getting burned. The hot rays can make them uncomfortable, so you have to follow the trail if they begin to move.
Which type of magnifying glass can be used to burn ants?
A convex lens is used in the magnifying glasses to increase the intensity of hot rays, but their size determines the effectiveness of putting ants on fire.
It takes only a few seconds to minutes for insects to go up in smoke if you have selected the right size of the lens. Its ideal diameter is 3 to 3.5 inches, which can ignite a fire on paper or wood.
Choosing a biconvex lens is a good option as it will refract light two times. The light rays get refracted while entering and exiting from the lens.
It can help provide a focused light bean with high intensity, and these hot rays can ignite any flammable object in a short time.
Moreover, you can also use a flat magnifying glass as it works better than the one with a curved shape when you turn its smooth side towards ants.
It is better to get a large size lens for maximum refraction of light rays as it can help kill a large number of insects in a short time. Ideally, its focal length needs to be 18 to 20cm.
What happens when you burn ants with a magnifying glass?
The ants feel discomfort when you bring a magnifying glass over their bodies in the sunlight. This is because they have smaller bodies that are covered in the hard exoskeleton.
However, a high intensity of light from a convex lens can potentially set their tiny bodies on fire. So they will begin to run away from the focal point to prevent damage.
These burned insects prefer to remain inside the nest until their bodies recover, as they can handle minor damages, but the limb or antennae loss is permanent.
Moreover, they are not resistant to extremely hot temperature when it reaches above 120 degrees Fahrenheit and dies within a few seconds of exposure.
Furthermore, they do not feel pain when burning as they lack nociceptors, but the feeling of discomfort can help them recognize danger. Their primary instinct makes them run away quickly.
Can you use a water bottle to burn ants instead of a magnifying glass?
A water bottle can be used instead of a magnifying glass to burn ants, as it can also act as a refracting lens to create a focal point. It can be quickly prepared from a plastic soda bottle at home.
Cut the curved part of a bottle close to its neck in the form of a circle. Put a small amount of water on the curved side of the cover.
Bring this cover over an insect and allow light rays to pass through the water and plastic material. It can help refract lights and converge the rays that are directed at these insects.
Furthermore, it is the easiest method to get rid of ants by creating a homemade magnifying material to help eliminate these nuisance pests.
Can you use a magnifying glass at night?
You cannot burn ants with a magnifying glass at night because moonlight cannot provide high-intensity light rays that can put the bodies of insects on fire.
Moreover, the moonlight cannot start a fire even if the objects are flammable, as the rays are not hot enough to increase the temperature to a maximum extent.
You can do this only in the sunlight during the daytime when a bright sun produces intense rays. The intensity of rays gets weaker as the time of sunset gets closer.
Furthermore, this method of killing insects is successful only when you do it at the right time of the day, as you have to face failure at night.
Related Articles:
