Question

What is the connection between prisms and rainbows?

Answer 1

The connection between prisms and rainbows:

1. A prism is a triangle-shaped piece of glass or plastic.
2. In both the cases of prism and rainbows dispersion of light in its constituent colours takes place
3. The rainbow's colours are, in order, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Because different colours of light travel at different speeds inside the glass, a prism works.
4. Because the colours of light travel at different speeds, they bend differently and come outspread out rather than mixed up.
5. Violet travels the slowest and thus is at the bottom, while red travels the fastest and thus is at the top.
6. This is due to what is known as the index of refraction.
7. Violet light is the most bent due to its higher index of refraction, while red light is the least bent due to its lower index of refraction.