Refraction Through A Prism And Dispersion Ray Optics And Optical Instruments
Refraction Through a Prism and Dispersion
- Refraction:
- Light bends when it passes from one medium to another.
- The amount of bending depends on the refractive index of the media.
- Prism:
- A transparent object with two non-parallel faces inclined at an angle.
- Light rays passing through a prism get refracted twice, once when entering the prism and once when exiting.
- Refractive Index:
- The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in a medium.
- The higher the refractive index, the more the light is bent.
- Angle of Refraction:
- The angle between the incident ray and the refracted ray.
- The angle of refraction is determined by the refractive indices of the media and the angle of incidence.
- Angle of Deviation:
- The angle between the incident ray and the emergent ray.
- Minimum Deviation:
- The smallest angle of deviation for a ray passing through a prism occurs at a specific angle of incidence.
- Dispersion:
- The spreading out of light into its component colors.
- The refractive index of a medium depends on the wavelength of light.
- As a result, different wavelengths of light bend by different amounts when passing through a prism, causing the light to spread out into a spectrum.
- Refractive Index and Wavelength:
- The refractive index of a medium is dependent on the wavelength of light.
- Shorter wavelengths (blue light) bend more than longer wavelengths (red light).
- Prismatic Spectrum:
- The spectrum of colors formed when light passes through a prism, which includes the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.