Join 60,000+ competitive exam aspirants
or with email
Your Cart
SubtotalтВ╣0
TotalтВ╣0
Examoogle тАв User тАв info@examoogle.com тАв EE-2024-8821
Chapter 1 of 12 тАв Page 1 of 248ЁЯФТ Protected PDF тАв Watermarked
Join 60,000+ competitive exam aspirants
Who was the first to use a glass prism to obtain a spectrum of sunlight?
Isaac Newton
Fermi
Einstein
Edison
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the first scientific demonstration that white light, such as sunlight, is composed of a spectrum of colors. By passing sunlight through a glass prism, he observed the dispersion of light into its constituent colors (VIBGYOR).
Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the first scientific demonstration that white light, such as sunlight, is composed of a spectrum of colors. By passing sunlight through a glass prism, he observed the dispersion of light into its constituent colors (VIBGYOR).
Think of sunlight like a mixed bag of marbles of different sizes; when you roll them through a specific obstacle course (the prism), they spread out based on their individual properties (wavelengths) rather than staying together in a single group.
VIBGYOR (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) - the order of colors in the spectrum from lowest to highest wavelength.
n=vcтАЛ тАФ definition of refractive index n where c is speed of light in vacuum and v is speed in medium
╬╕rтАЛтИЭ╬╗тИТ1 тАФ dispersion angle is inversely proportional to wavelength (qualitative relationship)
The principle behind this phenomenon is dispersion, which occurs because different wavelengths of light travel at different speeds through the glass medium. Consequently, each color refracts at a different angle according to Snell's Law, causing white light to spread out into a continuous band of colors.
Newton concluded that white light is a composite of different colors.
He used a second inverted prism to recombine the colors back into white light, proving the dispersion hypothesis.
This experiment laid the foundation for the science of spectroscopy.
Allows for the identification of chemical elements through their unique emission/absorption spectra.
Analysis of stellar composition in astrophysics
Measurement of refractive indices in materials science
The refractive index of glass is slightly higher for shorter wavelengths (violet) than for longer ones (red).
Option B (Fermi), C (Einstein), and D (Edison) are historically incorrect regarding the foundational discovery of spectral dispersion.
A is correct тАФ Sir Isaac Newton famously performed the glass prism experiment in 1666 to prove that white light is composed of multiple colors.
Remember that violet light deviates the most because it has the shortest wavelength and experiences the highest refractive index in glass.
Get instant step-by-step AI explanations, full shift Previous Year Papers (SSC GD, RRB, SSC JE), and regional rank analysis on the official Examoogle App.
Free Download тАв 100K+ Aspirants