Let S I (Fig. 6) be an incident ray in the plane of the principal section of the prism. If the external medium be air, or other substance of less refractive power than the prism, the ray on entering the same will be bent nearer to the normal, taking such a course as I E, and on leaving the prism will be bent away from the normal, taking the course E B. The effect of these two refractions is, therefore, to turn the ray away from the edge (or refracting angle) of the prism. In practice, the prism is usually so placed that I E, the path of the ray through the prism, makes equal angles with the two faces at which refraction occurs. If the prism is turned very far from this position, the course of the ray may be altogether different from that represented in the figure; it may enter at one face, be internally reflected at another, and come out at the third. It is evident, therefore, that the minimum number of sides, _i.e._, the bounding faces, exclusive of the ends, which a prism can have is three. In this form, it constitutes a most valuable instrument of research in physical optics. A convex lens is practically merely a curved form of two prisms combined, their bases being brought into contact; on the other hand the concave lens is simply a reversal of the position of the apices brought into contact, as shown in Fig. 11. Both convex and concave lenses are therefore closely related to the prism. =Reflection.=--The laws that govern the change of direction which a ray of light experiences when it strikes upon the surfaces of separation of two media and is thrown back into the same medium from which it approached is as follows:--When the reflecting surface is plain the direction of the reflected ray makes with the normal to the surface the same angle which the incident ray makes with the same normal; or, as it is usually expressed, the angles of reflection and incidence are equal. When the surfaces are curved the same law holds good. In all cases of reflection the energy of the ray is diminished, so that reflection must always be accompanied by absorption. The latter probably precedes the former. Most bodies are visible by light reflected from their surfaces, but before this takes place the light has undergone a modification, namely, that which imparts colour peculiar to the bodies viewed. When light impinges upon the surface of a denser medium part is reflected, part absorbed, and part refracted. But for a certain angle depending upon the refractive index of the refracting medium no refraction takes place. This angle is termed the angle of total reflection, since all the light which is not absorbed is wholly reflected.