When light passes through a prism, it undergoes a phenomenon called refraction. Refraction is the bending of light as it moves from one medium to another, in this case, from air to the prism material and then back to air. The amount of bending depends on the change in speed of light when it enters a different medium.
Prisms are often made of transparent materials, such as glass, that have a different refractive index than air. When a beam of white light (which consists of various colors) enters a prism, the different colors of light bend at slightly different angles due to their different wavelengths. This causes the white light to spread out into a spectrum of colors, creating a rainbow-like pattern known as a spectrum.
The phenomenon of separating white light into its component colors is called dispersion. The degree of dispersion depends on the refractive index of the prism material. Different materials exhibit different levels of dispersion, which is why prisms made of different materials can produce spectra with varying degrees of separation between colors.
Now, let's talk about the definition of wavelength of light. Light is an electromagnetic wave, and the wavelength of light refers to the distance between two successive points on the wave that are in phase with each other. In simpler terms, it is the distance between two corresponding points on adjacent waves, such as from peak to peak or from trough to trough.
Wavelength is commonly represented by the symbol λ (lambda) and is measured in units such as meters, nanometers, or angstroms. Different colors of light have different wavelengths. For example, red light has a longer wavelength than blue light. The visible spectrum of light spans a range of wavelengths approximately from 400 to 700 nanometers (nm), with violet light having the shortest visible wavelength and red light having the longest.
By manipulating the wavelength and intensity of light, we can perceive different colors, which is fundamental to our perception of the world around us.