The Wheel of Fortune has 24 total wedges or spaces. The large wheel is divided into separate segments containing cash values, special prizes, and penalty spaces that determine what can happen after a contestant spins.
A contestant normally spins the wheel to establish the value attached to each correctly guessed consonant. Landing on a cash wedge lets the player continue guessing if the letter appears in the puzzle, while special spaces can award prizes or create risks. The best-known penalty is Bankrupt, which removes the contestant’s accumulated round money and ends the turn.
The wheel’s contents can change between rounds or special episodes. Producers may attach or replace special wedges, such as prize, mystery, or million-dollar wedges, but the standard wheel structure still contains 24 positions. Some specially designed wedges may visually divide a position into smaller sections, which can make photographs or television shots look more complicated than the basic count.
This answer refers to the main gameplay wheel on the American television version. It should not be confused with the smaller bonus-round wheel, which is a separate prop used after the main puzzle game.