Dispersion of light — Describe

Question
Question

How does a glass prism demonstrate the dispersion of white light?

Answer

White light contains a range of different frequencies (colours). As it passes through a glass prism, each colour is refracted by a slightly different amount because the refractive index of glass varies with frequency — violet light is refracted most and red light least. This causes the colours to separate out into a visible spectrum, a process called dispersion.

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