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Physics Tutorial 12.5 - Dispersion of Light

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There are 4 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Dispersion of Light. The tutorial starts with an introduction to Dispersion of Light and is then followed with a list of the separate lessons, the tutorial is designed to be read in order but you can skip to a specific lesson or return to recover a specific physics lesson as required to build your physics knowledge of Dispersion of Light. you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

In this Physics tutorial, you will learn:

  • What is dispersion of light?
  • Which light colour experiences dispersion?
  • Why does light experience dispersion?
  • What is an example of natural dispersion of light?
  • What are the primary colours of light?
  • What light colours are considered as secondary and tertiary?
  • How do we use prisms to produce dispersion of light?

Introduction to Dispersion of Light

Have you ever seen a rainbow in the sky? When does it occur? Why?

Which light do you think includes all colours? Explain.

How can you split the white light into colours?

Have you ever heard the term "dispersion"? What does it mean?

Try to answer the above questions but do not consider this as an obligation. It is OK even if you don't known the answers. You will have chance to know them by the end of this tutorial.

Please select a specific "Dispersion of Light" lesson from the table below, review the video tutorial, print the revision notes or use the practice question to improve your knowledge of this physics topic.

Optics Learning Material
Tutorial IDPhysics Tutorial TitleTutorialVideo
Tutorial
Revision
Notes
Revision
Questions
12.5Dispersion of Light
Lesson IDPhysics Lesson TitleLessonVideo
Lesson
12.5.1Recap of Visible Light and Its Colours
12.5.2The Meaning of Dispersion
12.5.3Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colours of Light
12.5.4Totally Reflecting Prisms

Whats next?

Enjoy the "Dispersion of Light" physics tutorial? People who liked the "Dispersion of Light" tutorial found the following resources useful:

  1. Physics tutorial Feedback. Helps other - Leave a rating for this tutorial (see below)
  2. Optics Revision Notes: Dispersion of Light. Print the notes so you can revise the key points covered in the physics tutorial for Dispersion of Light
  3. Optics Practice Questions: Dispersion of Light. Test and improve your knowledge of Dispersion of Light with example questins and answers
  4. Check your calculations for Optics questions with our excellent Optics calculators which contain full equations and calculations clearly displayed line by line. See the Optics Calculators by iCalculator™ below.
  5. Continuing learning optics - read our next physics tutorial: Polarization of Light

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