17° liquid prism
Datecirca 1875
Inventory Number2007-1-0406
ClassificationPrism
Subject
Maker
American
?
Maker
English
?
Cultural Region
Dimensions5.8 × 5.1 × 1.7 cm (2 5/16 × 2 × 11/16 in.)
Material
DescriptionTriangular prism is of a narrow angle and is formed by a brass frame with two pieces of glass each cemented over a square opening. One plate of glass is round and the other square. The liquid prism has a knurled bolt for a stopper on the side.
Signedunsigned
FunctionLiquid prisms enabled the experimenter or spectroscopist to use liquids with a different refractive index than glass in their dispersion of light.
Liquid prisms were also used to measure the refractive index of different liquids.
Liquid prisms were also used to measure the refractive index of different liquids.
Alvan Clark and Sons
Date: circa 1875
Object number: 2007-1-0029
Carl Zeiss Jena
Date: circa 1926
Accessories: wooden box with two hook-and-eye latches to fasten front opening; in instrument file: instruction book (photocopy); Geissler tube labeled "H2"; carboard tube containing German thermometer C in stainless steel holder that screws into instrument; glass bottle with cork stopper labeled "Monobromnaphthalin, Germany nD=1 658"; small round cardboard box labeled "For Pulfrich Refractometer" containing one tubulure
Object number: 1996-1-0229
American
Date: circa 1914
Accessories: mounting plates and pads
Object number: 1998-1-1389
John A. Brashear
Date: 1916
Object number: 1998-1-1323
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1850
Object number: 1998-1-1227