How Does A Prism Form A Rainbow?
How do prisms make rainbows
How Does A Prism Form A Rainbow
First of all, what is a prism? A prism is a transparent refractive medium which has two triangular bases and three rectangular plane surfaces. The transparent beam of light is made up of seven colours: VIBGYOR ( V=violent, I=indigo, B=Blue, G=green, Y=yellow, O=orange, R=red ). As we know, these are the colours present in a rainbow as well. When we pass a transparent beam of light through the prism that is a transparent refractive medium, it splits that single beam of light into seven colours. This phenomenon is called dispersion of light. The process of obtaining a band of seven colours from the beam of light is called the spectrum of light.
Isaac Newton was the first one to use a glass prism to obtain the spectrum of light.
Now we can see that the spectrum that is formed through the prism gives a figure of the rainbow. A rainbow is a natural spectrum that appears in the sky after a rain shower. It is formed when dispersion of sunlight happens through the tiny water droplets that act as a transparent refractive medium present in the atmosphere. The sunlight refracts and disperse the incident sunlight, then reflect it internally and finally, refracted again when it comes out of the raindrop which finally gives us the seven different colours which results in a actual rainbow. The spectrum of light obtained through the prism is a lab experiment to show the spectrum of light and the phenomenon of dispersion.
– Written By Aruja
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