What happens to white light as it passes through a prism?

Light and Prisms

White light rays enter a prism.  What kind of light comes out the other side?  What did you observe in your lab experiment?

Try to remember what colors you saw on the ‘white’ box in the lab experiment and in what order you saw them (refer to your notes if needed).  Where did the colors appear on the ‘white’ box?  (Click here for a picture.)

Given where the colors ended up on the ‘white’ box, what path did the colored light rays take once they left the the prism?  Could you draw this on the diagram?  (Click here for a picture.)  Which colored rays bend the most?  Which colored rays bend the least?

Click here (External Website or EWS) to see a video of a prism separating light into more than just the colors.

Copyright  © 2009-2012, by Marcus Milling

edited by Julia Pian