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Why do we get different colours in the p...

Why do we get different colours in the phenomenon of dispersion of white light through prism?

Text Solution

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Actually white light is composed of seven colours as VIBGYOR.
Now, different colours of white light have different wavelengths. They travel with the same speed in vacuum and air but in any other medium they travel with different speeds.
From the formula for the absolute refractive index of a medium `n_(m)=(c )/(v)`, As `v_("violet") lt v_("red")`, `n_("violet") gt n_("red")`, i.e., the refractive index of glass of prism for violet colour is more than that for red colour.
Hence, the violet light bends the most, while the red light bends the least.
As the refractive index n of glass of prism for different colours is different, they deviate through different angles with respect to incident ray passing through prism.
That is why they split on coming out of the prism along different directions and thus they appear distinct.
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