What is Dispersion of Light?
- When light enters a denser medium, such as glass, it slows down (refracts), which causes it to bend
- Different colours, however, slow down by different amounts, which causes them to bend by different amounts
- This effect is known as dispersion and can be used to separate white light into its individual colours
When white light is shone through a prism it is dispersed into its individual colours
- The seven colours of the spectrum are:
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
- You can remember these colours either by remember the name:
Roy G. Biv
- Or by remembering the phrase:
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
Extended Only
Light as a Wavelength
- Light is a transverse wave
- The different colours of light all have different wavelengths (and frequencies)
- Red has the largest wavelength
- Violet has the shortest wavelength
- Light of a single wavelength (a single colour), or single frequency, is known as monochromatic