Question 12 Marks
When a beam of white light is passed through a triangular glass prism, it gets dispersed into its seven colour
components. Why do we get these colours? In the given figure, the colours X and Y represent the extreme components of the spectrum. Identify X and Y.

components. Why do we get these colours? In the given figure, the colours X and Y represent the extreme components of the spectrum. Identify X and Y.

Answer
View full question & answer→i. Different colours of light bend through different angles with respect to the incident ray as they travel with different speeds while passing through a prism, this phenomenon is known as disperson of light.
ii. X = violet, this colour has minimum wavelength thus suffers maximum deviation, Y = red, as it has maximum wavelength and thus least deviated.
ii. X = violet, this colour has minimum wavelength thus suffers maximum deviation, Y = red, as it has maximum wavelength and thus least deviated.

