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Prism (optics) 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 has a triangular base and rectangular sides.
White light is dispersed by a prism into the colors of the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is the band of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light (or simply light). The optical spectrum is sometimes considered to be the same as the ...
In optics, chromatic aberration ( CA ), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. [1] It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the wavelength of light. The refractive index of most transparent materials decreases with increasing ...
Aberrations of the eye. The eye, like any other optical system, suffers from a number of specific optical aberrations. The optical quality of the eye is limited by optical aberrations, diffraction and scatter. [1] Correction of spherocylindrical refractive errors has been possible for nearly two centuries following Airy's development of methods ...
Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflected by objects in the environment. This is different from visual acuity, which refers to how clearly a ...
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] This is a result of the prism material's index of ...
A burning apparatus consisting of two biconvex lens. A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction.A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (elements), usually arranged along a common axis.
History of optics. Modern ophthalmic lens making machine. Optics began with the development of lenses by the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians, followed by theories on light and vision developed by ancient Greek philosophers, and the development of geometrical optics in the Greco-Roman world. The word optics is derived from the Greek term ...
Waveguide (optics) An optical waveguide is a physical structure that guides electromagnetic waves in the optical spectrum. Common types of optical waveguides include optical fiber waveguides, transparent dielectric waveguides made of plastic and glass, liquid light guides, and liquid waveguides. Optical waveguides are used as components in ...
Dispersion (optics) In a dispersive prism, material dispersion (a wavelength -dependent refractive index) causes different colors to refract at different angles, splitting white light into a spectrum. In optics and in wave propagation in general, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency; [1 ...