Achromatic Prism
Purpose
Three combinable prisms of different materials demonstrate how chromatic aberration can be corrected. The smallest and largest prisms combined produce deflection without dispersion (achromatic prism). The two smallest combined produce dispersion without deflection (direct vision prism).
Figure 1:
The three combinable prisms of different optical materials. Each is 4 cm tall with 4 cm sides.
Figure 2:
Two prisms combined with opposing apex angles for the achromatic configuration (deflection without dispersion).
Figure 3:
Achromatic combination: the beam is deflected but remains white -- no chromatic dispersion visible.
Figure 4:
The two smallest prisms combined for the direct vision configuration (dispersion without deflection).
Figure 5:
Direct vision combination: the beam shows chromatic dispersion (visible spectrum) with no net deflection from the original beam direction.
Equipment
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