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Question
Explain briefly, with the help of a neat labelled diagram, how white light gets dispersed by a prism. On which surface of a prism, there is both dispersion and deviation of light, and on which surface of the prism, there is only deviation of light ?
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Solution
When white light is incident on the first surface of a prism and enters in glass, light of different colours due to different speeds in glass, is refracted or deviated through different angles. Thus the dispersion of white light into its constituent colours takes place at the first surface of prism.
On the second surface, only refraction takes place and different colours are deviated through different angles. As a result, the colours get further separated on refraction at the second surface (violet being deviated the most and red the least).
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RELATED QUESTIONS
A student traces the path of a ray of light through a triangular glass prism for different values of angle of incidence. On analyzing the ray diagrams, which one of the following conclusions is he likely to draw?
(A) The emergent ray is parallel to the incident ray.
(B) The emergent ray bends at an angle to the direction of the incident ray.
(C) The emergent ray and the refracted ray are at right angles to each other.
(D) The emergent ray is perpendicular to the incident ray.
Study the following figure in which a student has marked the angle of incidence (∠i), angle of refraction (∠r), angle of emergence (∠e), angle of prism (∠A) and the angle of deviation (∠D). The correctly marked angles are
(a) ∠A and ∠i
(b) ∠A, ∠i and ∠r
(c) ∠A, ∠i, ∠e and ∠D
(d) ∠A, ∠i, ∠r and ∠D
Why do the component colours of incident white light split into a spectrum while passing through a glass prism, explain
Study the following ray diagram:
In this diagram, the angle of incidence, the angle of emergence and the angle of deviation respectively have been represented by
(A) y, p, z
(B) x, q, z
(C) p, y, z
(D) p, z, y
The splitting up of white light into seven colours on passing through a glass prism is called:
(a) refraction
(b) deflection
(c) dispersion
(d) scattering
In an experiment to trace the path of a ray of light through a triangular glass prism, a student would observe that the emergent ray
(a) is parallel to the incident ray.
(b) is along the same direction of incident ray.
(c) gets deviated and bends towards the thinner part of the prism.
(d) gets deviated and bends towards the thicker part (base) of the prism.
When we place a glass prism in the path of a narrow beam of white light a spectrum is obtained. What happens when a second identical prism is placed in an inverted position with respect to the first prism? Draw a labelled ray diagram to illustrate it.
In the diagram, a narrow beam of white light is incident on a right-angled isosceles prism. The critical angle of the material of prism for the yellow colour of white light is 45°. Complete the diagram to show the path of blue, yellow, and red colours of white light till they emerge out of the prism.
Match the Columns:
| Column ‘A’ | Column ‘B’ |
| The wavelength of red light | (a) 600 nm |
| (b) 700 nm | |
| (c) 500 nm |
The splitting of white light into its component colours is called ____________.
