1. Part 1 Mirrors, Prisms, Diffraction Gratings and Spectroscopes
Basic Optical Devices
Part 1
Mirrors, Prisms,
Diffraction Gratings
and Spectroscopes

2. Basic Optical Devices are used to…
Change the Direction of a Ray of Light
Gather parallel rays of light and focus them at the Focus or Focal Point This focus can be…
Real, that is the light rays really meet there or
Virtual that is the rays only appear to meet there
Disperse white light into a spectrum
Create an Image which is…
Real and can be Projected onto a screen (its really there)
Virtual which cannot be projected
(it just appears to be there!)

3. Prisms
Prisms are flat sided pieces of glass, plastic or crystal, They are used to:
disperse white light into a spectrum.
change the direction of a ray of light
Diffraction Gratings
Diffraction Gratings are a series of parallel slits usually in a plastic film.
They use diffraction to disperse white light into a spectrum
A Spectroscope is a devise that uses a prism or diffraction grating to study spectra

4. Mirrors Mirrors are smooth reflecting surfaces
There are 3 basic types of mirrors by shape;
Flat: Used to change the direction of a ray
or to create a virtual image of equal size
Convex: (Curves out)
Has a virtual focus
always creates a smaller virtual image
it is rarely used in telescopes

5. Concave: (Curves in)
Used to gather light & focus it into a real focus,
Creates an erect virtual and larger image
of an object placed closer than its focus
Create inverted real image
Of an object placed farther away than the focus
These images get smaller the farther away the object is
Concave mirrors are often used in telescopes