American Board of Opticianry (ABO) Practice Test

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the ABO (American Board of Opticianry) Test with interactive flashcards and hundreds of multiple choice questions. Updated for 2024 to help you excel on exam day

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

Where will the image being viewed through a prism always be displaced towards?

Base
One meter
Apex
Rays

The correct answer is: Apex

When light passes through a prism, it is refracted or bent because the different colors of light (or wavelengths) travel at different speeds. This causes an image viewed through the prism to appear displaced or shifted from its original position. The direction of this displacement will always be towards the apex of the prism, which is the pointed end of the triangular prism. This is because the angle of refraction is dependent on the angle at which the light enters the prism and the angle of the prism's apex is crucial in determining the direction of the shift. The base of the prism, on the other hand, is flat and does not play a role in the refraction of light passing through the prism, so the image will not be displaced towards it. Similarly, one meter is a unit of measurement and not a relevant factor in the displacement of an image through a prism. Rays, or beams of light, are what pass through the prism and are responsible for the image shift, but they are not the direction of the displacement itself. Therefore, the correct answer is not base, one meter, or rays but always towards the apex of the prism.