angle-variable liquid-filled prism

Date1840-1850

Inventory Number1998-1-1227

ClassificationPrism

Subject

Maker Jean Baptiste François Soleil 1798 - 1878

Cultural Region

Place of Origin

Dimensions38.5 x 17.5 x 13.5 cm (15 3/16 x 6 7/8 x 5 5/16 in.)

Material

DescriptionA basin is made of two pivoting glass-plated walls, the angle of which being measured on a graduated scale ranging from 0 to 45 divided in single degrees. The basin can be filled with liquids of various densities to show how light is bent. A large pan (missing here) was most likely attached under the basin. The latter is supported by a telescoping column that rests on a circular base.

For a picture of the pan under the prism's basin, from a Lerebours and Secretan trade catalogue dated 1853, see the following website.

The base is stamped with an old Harvard inventory number: "9 101".

Signedon front: SOLEIL / Rue de l'Odéon / à Paris

FunctionPrisms are used to create a light spectrum, an artificial rainbow. Wikipedia offers a nice description, with images, of how it works. See the following website.

This instrument has been designed to show the relation between the angle of a prism's sides and the angle of refraction of light passing through it.

See the description given in the Duboscq trade catalogue, successor to Soleil, on the following website.