An optical table is platform that is used to support systems used for optics experiments and engineering. Because optics often demands vibrations be sub-wavelength (fractions of a micrometre), optical tables are typically very heavy and often use pneumatic bearings that act as a low-pass filter to vibrations.
The surface is typically stainless steel with a rectangular grid of tapped holes in either metric or imperial units:
- metric: M6 on a 25 mm grid
- imperial: ΒΌ-20" UNC on a 1" (25.4 mm) grid
Read more about Optical Table: Explanation, Breadboards, Rails and Benches
Famous quotes containing the words optical and/or table:
“There is an optical illusion about every person we meet.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Life is a thin narrowness of taken-for-granted, a plank over a canyon in a fog. There is something under our feet, the taken-for-granted. A table is a table, food is food, we are we—because we don’t question these things. And science is the enemy because it is the questioner. Faith saves our souls alive by giving us a universe of the taken-for-granted.”
—Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)