The Prism

You can see your surroundings in new colours with this experiment. Look through the prism. What colours does the world take on, and how is this possible?

When you look through a prism, the same effect occurs as in a rainbow. In a prism, the glass of the prism refracts the sun’s light, while a rainbow is formed when droplets of water refract the sun’s light.

Light travels more slowly through glass than through air, this is what causes the white light to be broken up into colours in a prism. Since the speed of light differs depending on the colour, different colours are refracted by different amounts. Blue light is refracted most and red light least. If it were possible to collect the colours from the rainbow or prism, white light would be formed.