Question

describe dispersion of white light. why do different colors of light bend to different extents when passed through a prism ?

Answer 1

Dear Student,

Dispersion of light - It is the splitting of white light into seven colours when passes through a prism .


Dispersion of light occurs in prism because light rays deviate while coming out of a prism by an angle. This is called the angle of deviation. Now angle of deviation depends upon the refractive index of the medium of which the prism is composed. Now since different colours in the white light have got different refractive index.This is because each seven colour has different wavelength, So they have different refractive index. So, each colour deviates by different angle from the other. Thus, these constituent colours separate out.


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