water prism, simple 1

A simple Water Prism, made of glass from picture frames

Step 1 Supplies

materials obtained from a discount dollar store.

Comments

[Xellers]

Very well done. But where can you get a real glass prism?

[jeandeau]

surplusshed.com is one good source I recommend with quality surplus and excess inventory clearances. American science and surplus has low grade hobby quality and a little military surplus. Anchor Optics is a source of very high quality pieces at reasonable prices. Edmunds scientific is a reliable source of hobby supplies but not equal to Anchor by any stretch. Thank you for the compliment. Water has a refractive index of 1.3 with air. The density of the water is extremely uniform and sheet glass is typically extremely flat. The result is a prism giivng truly excellent and uniform optical quality though the color separation is not as great as glass or lead glass (crystal). I purchased a crown glass prism at a hobby science shop for $12 and it has density variations that are evident when you look through it and this shows as a wavy spectrum display when sunlight is separated onto the wall.

[iectyx3c]

Love the dollar store, great idea to get the glass there. You can even use the glassless picture frames for little oil or acrylic paintings which do not need glass. Sometimes I take out the glass anyway to frame matte finish photos for more detail. +1 nicely done.

[rdy4trvl]

GorizzazMiko - it works great in the dark...you just can't see it.

[GorillazMiko]

These things are freaking awesome.
Great job.

I'm assuming these don't work in the dark?
Nice job, I need to get some glass at the store nearby...
+1 rating.
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