Spect

rum ofHgl
i
ght(
Dif
fract
ionGr
ati
ngv
sPr
ism)

 Fir
stl
y,bot
h(Di
ffr
acti
ongr
ati
ngandPr
ism)di
vi
dest
hewhi
tel
i
ghti
ntodi
ff
erentcol
our
s
(mainl
yVIBGYOR).

 Spli
tti
ngofwhi t
eli
ghti
npr ism isduetorefr
act
ionoflightandduetothefactthatwhit
e
l
ightisami xt
ureofdi
fferentwav el
engthsandallwavelengt
hshaveadiff
erentangleof
deviat
ion.Hence,weseespl i
tt
ingofwhi t
eli
ghttodif
ferentwavel
engt
hs(orcolours).
ThisisalsoknownasDi spersi
onofl i
ght.

 Dif
fracti
onofli
ghtlargelydependsonthewavelengthoftheinci
dentli
ght
.Ifwehav ea
si
nglenarrowsli
twi t
hmonochr omati
cli
ght
,li
ghtwi t
hwav el
engt
hsmuchl argerthanthe
sl
itwill
notbetransmi t
tedandlightwit
hwavelengthsmuchshorterthant
hesl i
twillbe
tr
ansmi t
ted,
butlightwithwavelengt
hscompar abl
et ot
heslitwi
llshowsi
gnifi
cant
di
ffr
actioneff
ects.

 Thereasonthatdif
fracti
oneffectsareabletospli
twhitel
ightintoit
sdiffer
entcolorsis
becausewhitel
ightiscomposedofcombi nati
onofmanydi fferentwavelengt
hsofl ight
.
Thediff
erentwavel
engt hsgetdiff
ractedbydif
ferentamounts( ordi
ffer
entangles),and
theeff
ectwesawi nt helabisthatthewhitel
ightgetsspl
iti
ntoi t
sspectrum ofcolours.

 Thespectr
um generat
edf
rom t
hedi
ff
ract
iongr
ati
ngi
sspr
eadov
eral
argerar
c(orl
arger
angl
e)thanthepri
sm.

 Thespectrum ofwhiteli
ght(Hg)areshar
perthanspectr
um ofpr
ism andinbet
weent wo
consecut
ivediff
erentcolour
edsharpli
nes,t
herearenumberofotherint
ermedi
atesharp
l
ines.I
ncaseofpr ism,thisi
sprobabl
ynotthecase,i
.e.t
hespect
rum iskindof
conti
nuous.

 Also,
inthespect
rum for
medbydif
fract
iongr
ati
ng,vi
oletli
ghtcanbeseenf
ir
st(
in
short
erangl
es)whereasredl
i
ghtcanbeseenlater(
atlargerangl
e).

 I
ncaseofaprism,redl
ightcanbeseenf
ir
st(
insmal
l
erangl
es)wher
easv
iol
etl
i
ghtcan
beseenl
ater(
atlar
gerangle)
.