Prism, Optical

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Prism, Optical

 

a body made of materials transparent to optical radiation (light) in some frequency or wavelength band and bounded by plane surfaces. An optical prism is not necessarily a strictly geometrical prism. Optical prisms are subdivided into three broad classes, which are sharply distinguished according to function: spectroscopic or dispersing prisms, reflecting prisms, and polarizing prisms.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.