SUBJECT: SCIENCE

YEAR: YEAR 8
TOPIC: DISPERSION OF LIGHT
 Learning Objectives
Dispersion 04/20/2020

Explain why we
Describe and classify some
Recall that white
attempt to
light can be split colours as
explain some
to make a primary and
effects of
spectrum. secondary
dispersion.
colours.

Key Words: dispersion, spectrum, primary, secondary

What would life be like without
colour?
Dull
DEMO
 Dispersion
Breaking up white light
You’ve just seen how a prism can break up white
light into 7 colours.

This breaking up of white light is called dispersion.

The prism disperses the light.
This breaking up of white light is called dispersion.
The prism disperses the light.

RED top
ORANGE
YELLOW
When white light
GREEN
is broken up like
BLUE
INDIGO this the 7 colours
VIOLET bottom are always in the
same order.
 Rainbows
Colours
You can see the order in
this rainbow.

Is this the same order

the colours go in – in
the rainbow song?
 ROY GBIV
How can you remember the order?

There’s the famous spy:

ROY GBIV

Or a defeated British king:

Richard Of York Gained Battle In Vain

See if you can think of your own.

The shape of the prism means they spread out
even more on leaving the prism.

You may see a small spectrum with a

rectangular glass block but the colours do not
spread out as much.
Recombining colours

When a second prism is added ‘upside down’ the dispersion of

the second prism is in the opposite direction to the original
dispersion.
White light is formed again.
 Spinning disc

The image stays on the retina at the back of the eye

for about 1/10 of a second.

When the disc spins very

fast all the colours of the
rainbow appear on the
retina together.

The colours all combine

to form white light.

http://www.absorblearning.com/media/item.action?quick=90
Colours are made by mixing other colours of light.

There are three primary colours of light used to make all

other colours. What are these colours?

The three primary

colours of light are
red, green and blue. red green

The colours made by

mixing two primary
colours are called magenta
blue
the secondary colours – magenta, yellow and cyan.
Filters let certain colours of light pass through,
but absorb all other colours.

object filter
A red filter
absorbs all
colours…
…apart from red light.

A blue filter
absorbs all
colours…
…apart from blue light.

A green filter
absorbs all
colours... …apart from green light.
A magenta
filter absorbs
all colours…
…apart from red and blue.

A cyan filter
absorbs all
colours…
…apart from green and blue.

A yellow
filter absorbs
all colours...
…apart from red and green.
Why does light disperse like this?

The size of a wave is measured from one peak to

the next and is called its wavelength.
White light is made up of all the colours of the
rainbow.

Each colour has its

own wavelength.

Red has the longest

and violet has the
shortest wavelength.
When light enters a glass prism it slows down.

But the shorter

wavelengths slow
down most and so
bend more sharply.

Blue is a short wavelength.

Red is the longest one.

 Blue Bends Best
As each wavelength, or colour, slows down at a
different rate it therefore has a different angle of
refraction to the rest.

This means the

different colours
spread out.