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Photograph of a triangular prism, dispersing light Lamps as seen through a prism. In optics, a dispersive prism is an optical prism that is used to disperse light, that is, to separate light into its spectral components (the colors of the rainbow). Different wavelengths (colors) of light will be deflected by the prism at different angles. [1]
A familiar dispersive prism. An optical prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refract light. At least one surface must be angled — elements with two parallel surfaces are not prisms. The most familiar type of optical prism is the triangular prism, which
A very large reflecting diffraction grating An incandescent light bulb viewed through a diffractive effects filter. Diffraction grating. In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical grating with a periodic structure that diffracts light, or another type of electromagnetic radiation, into several beams traveling in different directions (i.e., different diffraction angles).
For example, the propagation of light through a prism results in the light ray being deflected depending on the shape and orientation of the prism. Additionally, since different frequencies of light have slightly different indexes of refraction in most materials, refraction can be used to produce dispersion spectra that appear as rainbows.
Refraction occurs when light goes through a water surface since water has a refractive index of 1.33 and air has a refractive index of about 1. Looking at a straight object, such as a pencil in the figure here, which is placed at a slant, partially in the water, the object appears to bend at the water's surface.
The aligned light then passes through the prism in which it is refracted twice (once when entering and once when leaving). Due to the nature of a dispersive element the angle with which light is refracted depends on its wavelength. This leads to a spectrum of thin lines of light, each being observable at a different angle.
Then the xz plane is the interface, and the y axis is normal to the interface (see diagram). Let i and j (in bold roman type) be the unit vectors in the x and y directions, respectively. Let the plane of incidence be the xy plane (the plane of the page), with the angle of incidence θ i measured from j towards i.
This plane is called sagittal plane. Sagittal rays intersect the pupil along a line that is perpendicular to the meridional plane for the ray's object point and passes through the optical axis. If the axis direction is defined to be the z axis, and the meridional plane is the y-z plane, sagittal rays intersect the pupil at y p = 0.