Glass Prism
[10+]

This prism is made using optical glass and will demonstrate that white light is made up of the colours of the rainbow.

This is known as a spectrum.

Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century was the first to prove that white light was in fact made up of different colours.

He used a glass prism in his experiments.

The prism is 5cm (2 in) long. Each side is about 2.5 cm (1 in).

In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use "prism" usually refers to this type. Some types of optical prism are not in fact in the shape of geometric prisms. Prisms are typically made out of glass, but can be made from any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which they are designed. A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral colors (the colors of the rainbow). Prisms can also be used to reflect light, or to split light into components with different polarizations.