Prisms are sometimes used for the internal reflection at the surfaces rather than for

dispersion. If light inside the prism hits one of the surfaces at a sufficiently steep
angle, total internal reflection occurs and all of the light is reflected. This makes a
prism a useful substitute for a mirror in some situations.

Totally reflecting prisms

 Total internal reflection inside a 45o glass prism.
 The critical angle for the type of glass used to make the prism = 42o.
 The ray of light is turned through 90o.
 At A the ray of light is incident along the normal and passes straight through into the
glass prism without being bent.
 At B the angle of incidence at the glass – air boundary is 45o which is greater than
the critical angle. Total internal reflection occurs, and the angle of reflection is 45o.
 At C the ray of light is incident again along the normal and passes straight through
into air without being bent.
 1. i is less than c, so total
internal reflection won’t
occur.
2. Refraction occur
3. Incident ray from MD to LD
so away from normal line

 Total internal reflection inside a 90o glass prism.

 The critical angle for the type of glass used to make the prism = 42o.
 The ray of light is turned through 180o.