Article
Article
Optical prism
Article By:
Sasian, Jose M. Optical Sciences Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.472900
A simple component, made of a light-refracting and transparent material such as glass and bounded by two or more plane surfaces at an angle (Fig. 1), that is used in optical devices, especially to change the direction of light travel, to accomplish image rotation or inversion, and to disperse light into its constituent colors. Once light enters a prism, it can be reflected one or more times before it exits the prism.
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