Accession No
1910
Brief Description
prism and stand, 1930 (c)
Origin
Maker
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1930
Latest Date
1930
Inscription Date
Material
stone (quartz); metal (oxidised brass; lead)
Dimensions
length 95mm; breadth 90mm; height 290mm
Special Collection
Cavendish collection
Provenance
Transferred from the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in 09/1974.
Inscription
Description Notes
60˚ quartz prism; oxidised brass platform and clamp on brass pillar stand; height adjustable; clamp; turned base.
Condition
References
Events
Description
Prism
A prism consists of a translucent piece of glass or crystal, usually triangular in cross section, which is used to separate light into a spectrum of its separate colours.
The instrument works because different wavelengths of light are refracted (bent) by different amounts as they enter and leave the prism; the shorter wavelengths (towards the blue end of the spectrum) are refracted by the greatest amount, and the longer wavelengths (towards the red end) are refracted the least. This spreads out normal white light, which is a mixture of all the different colours, into its constituent parts and produces the rainbow effect of a spectrum.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:43401
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