Why does a plane glass not separte light? (but a prism does)

[physickkksss]

Hey guys, I think I know the answer but I wanted to confirm...

Is it that a plane glass also separates light (internally) but we can't see it because all the rays get refracted back to its original angle when it comes out

On the other hand, because the shape of a prism, light that exits a prism has been refracted from its original angle, thus we can see the different colors of different frequency

Here is a link that shows light rays going through plane vs prism
http://academic.greensboroday.org/~regesterj/potl/Waves/Refraction/RefractionA.htm


I just wanted to know whether this is the correct reason for why a PRISM is always used to show the separation of light

(not for any coursework, just wondering)

Thanks

 

[vanhees71]

That's correct!

 

[physickkksss]

cool thanks

:)

 

[chrisbaird]

A lens also separates white light, but it is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration" .

If you look closely at ray diagrams, you see that a plane of glass does shift the image slightly.