OPTICAL PRISM EXPERIMENT SHEET
| Category | Physics Experiments |
| Main product | Newton Prism |
| Short description | This experiment is a simple experiment on Isaac Newton's discovery about the composition of light, using a optical prism. |
STEP-BY-STEP EXPERIMENT
The execution of the experiment is very simple, all you need is a Newton's prismwhich is quite inexpensive, you can find it on Amazon. here.
You also need a direct source of light, and find the angle so that the light enters through one side of the prism and is refracted through the other side of the prism. This light, already divided into its different wavelengths, will be reflected on a surface giving rise to the different colours of the visible light spectrum.
TECHNICAL EXPLANATION
DISCOVERY BY NEWTON
Prior to this demonstration, it was believed that white light was monochromatic, and that the prism generated the colours. Newton, through the refraction undergone by the electromagnetic waves (although it was not known at the time that light was composed of waves), when changing medium. Thus, when entering the glass prism and passing from the air medium to the crystalline medium, one can see how the light separates into the colours of which it is composed (each colour corresponds to a different wavelength).
To prove that it was not the prism that was generating the colours, he placed a second prism behind it, so that by placing it at the right angle, the colours would come together again in white light. This prism is nowadays called Newton Prismhonouring its discoverer.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible light are waves with a wavelength that the eye is able to perceive. Each colour corresponds to a different wavelength and can therefore be differentiated in Newton's prism. You can learn more about the electromagnetic spectrum in this entry. Electromagnetic spectrum.
In relation to visible light, it is very interesting to know that the light coming from the sun is not only electromagnetic waves within the visible light band but contains many other waves in other wavelengths and hence the importance of eye and skin protection when we expose ourselves to the sun. See more in Visible light spectrum.
MORE EXPERIMENTS
In this section you can see more experiments: Physics Experiments