Question
What is the dispersion of light? What is its cause?
Answer
Dispersion of light: The phenomenon of splitting of white light by a prism into its constituent colours is known as dispersion.
Cause of dispersion: White colour is composed of seven colours and as each colour of light has its own wavelength, so different colours of light travel in a medium with different speeds. Therefore the cause of the dispersion of white light is due to the different speeds of light of different colours.
