The spectrometer-goniometer is used to determine the angle of deflection that light undergoes when passing a prism. The refractive index of a prism at the specific wavelength of a known spectral line can be determined by observation of the angle of least deflection of light of that spectral line effected by that prism, given that the angle between the planes of the prism is known. If this measurement is done for different spectral lines, the dispersion curve of the prism can be determined. Prisms made of different glass and a hollow prism that can be filled with different liquids are used to determine dispersion curves of different types of glass and different liquids. Further can be shown how the spectral resolving power of a prism spectrometer depends on the dispersion and size of a prism. For this an adjustable slit is used to restrict the useful width of the light beam. The effect on the resolving power of a restricted beam width is observed.