Mentioning Optical Prisms, we all know that they are kinds of transparent optical elements with flat, polished surfaces which could refract, reflect, or disperse light. They are widely used in optics and photons applications, such as in cameras, and telescopes, to manipulate the path of light.
Dating back to the ancient times, Sir Isaac Newton conducted experiments on the nature of light in the late 1600s. In one famous experiment, Newton used a prism to show that white light is actually made up of a spectrum of colors, which can be separated and displayed as a rainbow. This discovery laid the foundation for the field of spectroscopy, which is the study of the interaction between light and matter.After Newton’s discovery, prisms began to be used in a variety of optical instruments, including cameras, binoculars, and telescope and so on.
Optical prisms can refract and/or reflect light. When light enters the prism at an angle, it is refracted by the prism’s surface, causing changing the light direction. The amount of refraction depends on the angle of incidence and the refractive index of the prism material. Different colors of light have different wavelengths, which means they refract at slightly different angles. This property of light is what allows prisms to split white light into its component colors, creating a rainbow effect. They also can be used to reflect light, and invert an image without changing the orientation, widely used in porro prism type binocular.
Of course, there are many kinds of optical prisms, such as triangle prism, right angle prism, porro prism, dove prism and so on. Exact and appropriate choice is decided by actual application and system.
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