Types of Prism

What is Prism?

The word prism is derived from the Latin word ” prism “, which has Greek roots and literally means ” anything sawn.”

A prism is a geometric form made up of two identical flat polygons. Bases are the name for these polygons. Parallelograms are used to complete the lateral faces and go with the bases. The prism is referred to as a polyhedron because of its properties.
The bases, as well as the aforementioned parallelograms, make up the prism’s elements. The height, which is the distance between the upper and lower bases, is added to this. The intersection of the two surfaces is also represented by the vertex.

Types of Prism?

Prism Types are given in the list below:

• Structural Based Prisms
• Prisms According to Base
• Optical Prisms

Types of Prism on the Basis of Structure

Regular prisms

These are those that are made up of bases of regular polygons.

Irregular prisms

These are those that are made up of bases of irregular polygons.

Convex prisms

These are those that are made up of bases of convex polygons.

Concave prisms

These are those that are made up of bases of concave polygons.

Straight prisms

These are the ones that have rectangles or squares as lateral faces.

Oblique prisms

These are the ones with rhombuses or rhomboids as lateral faces.

Parallelepipeds

These are the ones based on parallelograms.

Octahedra

These are those parallelepipeds with rectangular faces.

Cube

These are those parallelepipeds with square faces.

Read Also: Differentiate between Prism and Pyramid

Prism types are classified by the orientation of their bases

Prisms can be classified based on the position of their bases:

Some of them are:

Triangular prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of triangles.

Square prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of squares.

pentagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of pentagons.

hexagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of hexagon bases.

heptagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of heptagons.

octagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of octagons.

enneagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of nonagons.

decagonal prism

This is a prism that is made up of bases of decagons.

Optical Prisms

Reflective prisms

This type of prism is the simplest, it is responsible only for reflecting light. This is the one used to make monoculars. Some reflective prisms are:

• Porro Prism: with this, it is possible to modify the location of the image. These types of prisms are usually used twice.

• Amici prism: It is one of the most common prisms, it acts as a monochromator. This means that it separates the received wavelengths into a series of groups.

• Dove prism: this type of prism reverses an image without modifying the light beam.

Dispersive prisms

This is more complex than the reflective prism as they are used to decompose the light into the colors of the rainbow, making it deviate at various frequencies. Some of them are:

• Composite prism: it is a type of prism that comprises a composition between triangular prisms, which are solidly joined to improve their use.

• Pellin Broca Prism – This type of prism is made up of four sides and deflects light at an angle of ninety degrees.

Polarizing prisms

In these prisms, the light beams are separated into polarization modules. Some of them are:

• Nicol prism: this is the union of two prisms, in which the light comes out parallel.

• Wollaston prism: this also comprises the union of two prisms and fulfills the function of a polarizing ray separator.

Deflecting prism

This type of prism is one that, when viewed through, makes objects in front of it appear to move. Does this depend on how far or near the prism is?

Related Articles:

• Prism Vs Pyramid
• Types of Pyramid
• Types of Triangles
• Types of Rectangles
• Types of Polygons
• Rhombus area