Figure 1-9.
The electromagnetic spectrum
3. Composition of White Light.
White light is composed of all the
wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Light can be passed through a
prism to determine its composition (fig 1-10). Each color of the spectrum
represents light vibrating at a different frequency or wavelength.
The
shorter the wavelength, the more the rays are bent, or refracted, when
passing through a transparent medium. Red light has the longest wavelength,
and violet the shortest, thus the red light is bent the least and the violet
light is bent the most.
Figure 1-10.
The dispersion of light
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