American Board of Opticianry (ABO) Practice Test 2026 – The All-in-One Guide to Master the American Board of Opticianry Exam!

When looking at the displacement of an image caused by a prism, it is essential to understand the principles of how prisms work. A prism bends light because of refraction, which occurs when light passes through the material, changing speed due to the different densities. The apex of the prism is the point where the two sides of the prism meet at the top, while the base is at the bottom.

When light enters a prism, it bends towards the base (the thicker part) and, as a result, the image that you are viewing through the prism will appear to be displaced toward the apex. Thus, when interpreting the effects of a prism on an image, the correct understanding is that the visual direction of the image shifts towards the apex due to the way light is refracted.

This aspect of image displacement is crucial for understanding how to work with prisms in optics, particularly in fields such as optometry and engineering optics, where precise measurements and understanding of light behavior are essential.