Dispersion of White Light

Topic Content:

When white light or sunlight was passed through a prism in a dark room, it was observed that the white light formed a spectrum of light consisting of different colours (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo & violet) on a screen.

As the light passes through the prisms, it is deviated and the spectrum is spread out on the screen. Observation shows that Red light is the least deviated and violet light is the most deviated.

Therefore, dispersion is the splitting of white light into its various colours due to the different speeds of the coloured lights as they pass through a glass prism.

Red light is the least deviated with the fastest speed and violet light is the most deviated with the lowest speed.

The spectrum of light obtained is called impure spectrum because the colours overlap.