DISPERSION OF LIGHT

WHAT DOES A PRISM LOOKS LIKE?

Prisms are three-dimensional shapes which are made up of polygonal surfaces. They have two
polygonal bases that are connected with each other by rectangular (right prisms) or
parallelogram surfaces (oblique prisms). A prism is named after the shape of its base. Have a
look at following image which demonstrates different kinds of prisms, such as a triangular
prism, square prism, pentagonal prism, hexagonal prism, heptagonal prism etc.

 How a prism can break white light up into the visible light spectrum?

In every day life, when people talk about light waves they usually means visible
lights. As the full spectrum of visible light travels through a prism, the
wavelengths separate into the colors of the rainbow because each color is a
different wavelength. Violet has the shortest wavelength, at around 380
nanometers, and red has the longest wavelength, at around 700 nanometers.
DISPERSION OF LIGHT

1. White light is made up from seven colours. They are red, orange, yellow, green, blue
indigo and violet (ROYGBIV)

2. When white light goes through a prism, it splits up into all the colours of the rainbow. This
is called a spectrum.

3. Dispersion occurs because different colours of light refract differently.

4. This is how we get rainbows.The rainbow consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue,indigo,
and violet colour.

5. Light waves are refracted as they enter and leave the prism. The shorter the wavelength of
the light, the more it is refracted. As a result, red light is refracted the least and violet
light is refracted the most, causing the coloured light to spread out to form a spectrum.
White light is made up from seven colours:
Red - R
Orange - O
Yellow - Y
Green - G
Blue - B
Indigo - I
Violet - V
Red is refracted
the least

Violet is refracted
the most

All colours are refracted by different amounts

ACTIVITY : HOW TO MAKE AN INDOOR RAINBOW ?

(I) Making Rainbows With A Compact Disc (CD)

What do I need?

 Compact disc (also known as a CD) (If you don't own any CDs, you can buy an old
one at a garage sale. Or ask at a record store if they will give you a CD that won't play.)
 Sunshine (or a bright flashlight and a room that you can make dark)
 A piece of white paper (A4 / A3 paper)

What do I do?
1. Prepare a disc, a flashlight and a piece of white paper.
2. Place the disc on the table in the dark room or simply hold it. With the light off, shine a
flashlight onto shiny surface of disc to create your indoor rainbow.
3. Change the angle of the flashlight and predict whether this will change the location of
the rainbow.

Discussion
Please discuss in your group about the formation of rainbow on compact disc.Sketch your
drawing on a piece of paper.

Diagram 1.0
(II) Making Rainbows With A Glass Of Water
What do I need?

 Sunshine (or a bright flashlight and a room that you can make dark)
 A piece of white paper (A4 / A3 paper)
 A transparent glass
 A volume of plain water

What do I do?
1. Prepare a glass of water, a flashlight and a piece of white paper.
2. Take a piece of paper and cut a slot into the middle of it.
3. Tape this onto the side of a smooth/clear drinking glass so that the flashlight rays can pass
through the opening onto the SURFACE of the water in the glass.
4. Shine the flashlight rays through the opening onto the surface of the water in the glass.
5. Make an observation

Precautions: Make sure that the glass of water is VERY FULL. Place the glass on a white
floor or white piece of paper, making sure the sun’s rays are shining through the slot in your
paper and hitting the surface of the water.You should see a mini-rainbow appear below the
glass!

Discussion
Please discuss in your group about the formation of rainbow with a glass of water.

Diagram 2.0
RAINBOW IN THE SKY

APPLY IT
When a rainbow forms in the sky, the
same principle applies. Many little water
droplets refract the sun’s light. The angle
at which we view these water droplets
determines which color we see from them.

HINTS
When you shine the white light of your
flashlight (or the white light coming from
the sun) into the water, the light bends.

But white light isn’t just one color; instead,

it’s a combination of all the visible colors.
So when white light bends, all of its
components (red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, and indigo light) also bend.

Each of these colors bends at a different

angle because each color travels at a
different speed inside water or glass.

When you reflect the light back out of the

water using the mirror, you’re reflecting
the white light that has been broken up
(from refraction) into the full rainbow of
colors, and a rainbow appears
WORKSHEET

Answers all questions

1. (a) Label the diagram using given words (in table below):

Ray of white light Prism A spectrum

(b)

(a)

(c)

(b) Colour in the spectrum the red light bends the least while violet bends the most.
Write down the names of the colours in the spectrum.
_________________________________________________________________________
(c) Explain why white light splits up into the different colours when it goes through a prism.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

(d) Look at the diagram.

After rain, the rainbow will appear.

How is a rainbow formed?

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. List the order of the colours of light in the visible spectrum. Starting
from longest wavelength to shortest wavelength

Longest Wavelength Shortest Wavelength

_______, _______, _______, _______ ,_______ ,_______, ________

3.