Question

What is splitting of white light into seven constituent colors called?

Answer 1

Dispersion of light:

1. When white light is passed through a glass prism it splits into its spectrum of colors (in order violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) and this process of white light splitting into its constituent colors is termed as dispersion.
2. When light falls on the glass prism, refraction takes place. Since the wavelength of different components of light is different, Thus, each component gets deviated.
3. The red color having the maximum wavelength deviates the least and forms the upper part of the spectrum whereas violet having the least wavelength deviates the most. by a different angle due to the difference in velocity in the glass medium.
4. If a beam of white light is made to fall on one face of a prism, the light emerging from the other face of the prism consists of the following seven colors namely (VIBGYOR)-Violet,Indigo,Blue,Green,Yellow,Orange, and Red.
5. Thus, white light disperses into constituent colors because the light of different wavelengths undergoes unequal deviations while passing through the prism.

Hence, the splitting of white light into seven constituent colors is known as dispersion.