prismawerking

Prismawerking is a term used primarily in Dutch-language optics to describe how a prism manipulates light. It encapsulates the basic optical processes by which light entering a prism is refracted at its interfaces, deviates from its original path, and, because different wavelengths bend by different amounts, is dispersed into a spectrum. The result—angular separation of wavelengths—depends on the prism’s geometry (for example, the apex angle) and on the wavelength-dependent refractive index of the prism material.

The mechanism rests on Snell's law at the two glass–air boundaries. Light is bent as it enters the glass and again as it exits, with shorter wavelengths refracted more strongly than longer wavelengths. This dispersion produces a spread of colors and, in more complex prisms or configurations, can also create multiple beams or guided paths.

Common prisms include the triangular prism, used in education to demonstrate dispersion, and dispersive prisms such as Wollaston or Amici prisms employed in optical instruments to separate or combine wavelengths. Prismawerking underpins applications in spectroscopy, where prisms help disperse light to measure its spectrum, and in imaging systems where chromatic dispersion must be managed.

In practice, prismawerking is affected by factors such as material dispersion, surface quality, and incident angle. The term is used in Dutch educational and technical literature to describe how prisms operate, with English-language equivalents including prism action or prism dispersion.