Explore how white light separates into rainbow colors through a prism. Interactive physics simulation with Snell's law and Cauchy's equation.
Dispersion is the phenomenon where white light separates into its constituent colors when passing through a prism. This occurs because different wavelengths of light travel at different speeds in the prism material, causing them to refract at different angles.
Describes how light bends when passing between media with different refractive indices.
The refractive index depends on wavelength, where A and B are material-specific constants.
Total deviation depends on incident angle (i), emergence angle (e), and prism apex angle (A).
In 1666, Isaac Newton demonstrated that white light from the sun is composed of all colors of the visible spectrum. His experiments with prisms revolutionized our understanding of light and color, laying the foundation for modern optics.