Resultant prism

[mullo]

Jo, I must say that I have saved several of the links you have provided in my favorites, just below Optiboard of course. So Thank You, Mullo

[Joann Raytar]

mullo:

:D Your Welcome! You should see my Netscape Bookmark files; I always was a pack rat.

- Jo

[Darryl Meister]

Originally posted by Cj Eggbeer
I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one that has had to resort to using graph paper to understand prisma. Did you invent the technique or do you know who did?

Just remember that all we are really doing is just the general process of converting between rectangular (e.g., base in, base up, etc.) and polar coordinates (e.g., base @ 45) -- applied to prism, of course... A technique that has actually been around for a couple of centuries by now. Part of all that boring stuff they taught us back in high school. ;) Most cheap scientific calculators even have a little button you can use to convert between the two automatically.

Best regards,
Darryl

[Pete Hanlin]

Originally posted by Darryl Meister


Just remember that all we are really doing is just the general process of converting between rectangular (e.g., base in, base up, etc.) and polar coordinates (e.g., base @ 45) -- applied to prism, of course...

Well, when you put it like that!

Next time someone asks if there's an easy way to figure out what prism(s) would result from a prism given in degrees, I'll say "Sure, you just convert from the given polar coordinates to the rectangular coordinates using a protractor, a surface with a non-arching edge, and graph paper with equidistant reference demarkations... With a few simple measurements, the resulting prism will become palpable!"

Let's see, I think Steve should build a web site to convert common language into "Darryl-speak!" Hmmm, it might work something like this...

"Please turn on the lights."
Translation: "By closing the circut to the source of alternating electrical current, please illuminate the confines of this rectangularly shaped area via the horizontally oriented flourescent devices which have been mounted to the upper defining surface of the aforementioned area."

Just kidding... I've watched Darryl solve dozens and dozens of optical problems during the past few years in his role as our resident Opti-scholar. If Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ever has an optical version of the show, Darryl will undoubtably breeze through with his lifelines intact. Plus, its nice to settle any optical related dispute by simply stating, "but Darryl said..." ;)

Pete "I stand in awe in the presence of the superlative of optical greatness" Hanlin

[Steve Machol]

As a special treat for our British cousins, I've translated Darryl's statement into Cockney. Hopefully this will foster an increased understanding between our divergent cultures. :bbg:

Just remember that all we are right doin' is just the general Queen Bess of convertin' between rectangular (e.g., base in, right, base up, etc.) and polar coordinates (e.g., base @ 45) -- applied ter prism, o'course... A technique that 'as actually been 'round for a couple of centuries by now. I'll get out me spoons. Part of all that borin' stuff they taught us hammer and tack in 'igh school. Most cheap scientific calculators even 'ave a wee button yer can use ter convert between the two automatically.

[John R]

Originally posted by Steve Machol
As a special treat for our British cousins, I've translated Darryl's statement into Cockney. Hopefully this will foster an increased understanding between our divergent cultures. :bbg:

By eck lad you may as well have translated it into outer Mogulian Steve :hammer: as us northerners cant understand cockney any more than you can understand canidian :cheers:
I think that we (Maria & me) are begining to get the jist of what you are yanking on about most of the time though

[Darryl Meister]

Originally posted by Pete Hanlin

Let's see, I think Steve should build a web site to convert common language into "Darryl-speak!" Hmmm, it might work something like this...

"Please turn on the lights."
Translation: "By closing the circut to the source of alternating electrical current, please illuminate the confines of this rectangularly shaped area via the horizontally oriented flourescent devices which have been mounted to the upper defining surface of the aforementioned area."

Well, unless it was in an automobile, in which case it would be "direct electrical current" and an "incandescent light source" -- or perhaps even a "vacuum-enclosed tungsten filament heated to 3,600 Kelvins." ;)

Best regards,
Darryl "Let's not propagate any more optical myths and misnomers than we absolutely have to" Meister

[Cj Eggbeer]

Hi Darryl,

So you're saying it might have been Euclid, around 300 B.C., or even Pythagoras himself, c. 600 B.C., that first used graph paper to explain how to neutralize or verify Cartesian prism with the reticle of a lensometer? :-)

Best Regards,
Cj

[Darryl Meister]

Hi Cj,

Are you implying that calculating prism with graph paper is somehow different than calculating the distance to some point (x,y) like you did back in 8th grade mathematics? ;) Like I said, it's the exact same process, but applied to prisms. Trust me, the graph paper doesn't care whether your lines and arrows represent prisms or velocity displacement vectors. And I would certainly say that the Rene Descartes (1596-1650) most likely did a great deal of work with his Cartesian coordiante system over 300 years ago. And, while he and his successors didn't have the benefit of a Wal-Mart to purchase "graph paper" from, I'm sure that they made do with regular parchment, a rule of some sort, and a pen. ;)

As far as strictly prismatic applications go, the oldest book on dispensing I have (1951, from Russell Stimson) describes how to use graph paper for prisms. (Inexpensive calculators weren't available back then.) By the way, just to be clear... The point of my earlier response was not to detract from the value of your suggestion, but rather to explain the process is a general one, which has been around for some time. Although calculating it will be more accurate than drawing and measuring it, performing the excercise of using graph certainly gives you a better intuition and understanding about prism in general. A rough sketch, even without the aid of graph paper, is also good to verify the calculations and to make sure that you have the signs and directions correct.

Best regards,
Darryl

[Cj Eggbeer]

Dear Darryl,

Not implying anything here, just trying to have a little fun while I learn.

Actually, Pete's comment about the graph paper caught my eye because it reminded me of a time, about twenty years ago, when I was an underpayed, overworked, barely qualified lab manager who had to figure out a way to verify that my lab was producing compound prism correctly. I didn't have a mentor, and couldn't afford the books or the surface calculation program (RXP I). We had calculators back then, but the ones that converted degrees to radians and back were about $100, or three weeks worth of groceries. TCP/IP was still more or less on the drawing board, and the OptiBoard wasn't even a glimmer in someone's eye yet. We didn't even have Wal-Mart back then, unless you lived in Arkansas. I didn't have the time to run through the calculations manually, what with the customer waiting and all. What I did have was graph paper, my trusty pd stick, and a protractor. Voile, problem solved. Thanks for the memories, Pete.

About the eighth grade, after riding Betsy the cow 20 miles through knee deep snow to get to my one room school house, I was frankly to exhausted to remember geometry or algebra.

Sincerely,
Cj

[Pete Hanlin]

I'm just glad someone else appreciates the "elegance" (in arithmetic, when you solve a problem without extra steps, the solution is said to be "elegant" - at least I think that's the term), of using graph paper and protractor instead of prolonged computations...

BTW, Darryl mentioned that automobiles have direct current. Did you know the car makers are seriously considering bumping the typical car's voltage from 12V to 36V- just to handle the drains placed on the electrical system by our modern stereos, ECMs, A/C, dozens of little running lights, defrosters, and so on? Seems when they adopted 12V they didn't imagine the accessories cars would one day have (kinda like the fella who decided we would only need 640k of base memory way back when ;) ).

Here's to Darryl's health! :cheers: May he always be around to solve our more perplexing problems!

Pete