Friday, December 28, 2012

Prism Image

Introduction to Prism image:

Before we discuss prism image, let us define a prism. A prism is a portion of a transparent medium bounded by two plane faces inclined to each other at a suitable angle. The angle between the two inclined surfaces is called the refracting angle or the angle of the prism. A line where the two inclined planes meet is called the refracting edge of the prism. Image formed by a prism shows a pattern discussed below. I like to share this Triangular Prism Net with you all through my article.

The Angle of Prism

A ray of light when passing through a prism suffers two refractions and hence it get deviated from its original path from a certain angle and this angle is called the angle of deviation and it is related with the angle of prism as

δ = (μ – 1) A

Where δ is the angle of deviation and μ is the refractive index of the material from which the prism is made and A is the angle of prism. The refractive index of the prism material and the angle of prism are also interconnected as Please express your views of this topic substitution method with fractions by commenting on blog.

μ = sin [(A + δm) / 2] / sin (A / 2)

Types of Image Formed by a Prism

The images of prism include a general image which is shown in fig.1 and it shows the dispersion of the light through the prism and hence the light deviates from its original path and get dispersed into the seven constituent colors to make a pattern named as the VIBGYOR.



Fig.1 Prism showing dispersion

But the prism images include the prism named as the total refracting prisms and these prisms are shown in fig.2 where the glass prism are like the right angled isosceles prisms which turn the light through 900 or 1800. They are based on the phenomenon of total internal reflection of light. In totally reflecting glass prisms the angle of incidence is made 450. Hence light suffers total internal reflection. In first figure of fig.2 the deviation is 900 on account of one total internal reflection whereas the deviation in the second figure of the fig.2 is 1800 on account of two total internal reflections.




Fig.2 Total Reflecting Prism

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