What is the cause of dispersion of white light as it passes through a prism?
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Solution
Dispersion of light:
White light dispersion is defined as the splitting of white light into seven constituent colours when it passes through a prism.
When white light passes through a glass prism, it splits into its spectrum of colours (in order violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red), and this process of splitting white light into its constituent colours is known as dispersion.
Causes of dispersion of light:
When white light is passed through a prism, a spectrum of seven colours is formed, demonstrating that white light is a combination of seven different colours.
Prism only serves as a medium for separating the seven colours.
Refraction occurs when light strikes a glass prism. Because the wavelength of different light components varies and the frequency remains constant, each component deviates by a different angle due to the difference in velocity in the glass medium.
The red colour deviates the least and forms the upper part of the spectrum, whereas the violet colour deviates the most and forms the lower part of the spectrum.
