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Photograph of a triangular prism, dispersing light Lamps as seen through a prism. In optics, a dispersive prism is an optical prism that is used to disperse light, that is, to separate light into its spectral components (the colors of the rainbow). Different wavelengths (colors) of light will be deflected by the prism at different angles. [1]
For common optical glasses, the refractive index calculated with the three-term Sellmeier equation deviates from the actual refractive index by less than 5×10 −6 over the wavelengths' range [5] of 365 nm to 2.3 μm, which is of the order of the homogeneity of a glass sample. [6]
The theory of light-matter interaction on which Cauchy based this equation was later found to be incorrect. In particular, the equation is only valid for regions of normal dispersion in the visible wavelength region. In the infrared, the equation becomes inaccurate, and it cannot represent regions of anomalous dispersion. Despite this, its ...
The name "dispersion relation" originally comes from optics. It is possible to make the effective speed of light dependent on wavelength by making light pass through a material which has a non-constant index of refraction, or by using light in a non-uniform medium such as a waveguide. In this case, the waveform will spread over time, such that ...
In the technical terminology of gemology, dispersion is the difference in the refractive index of a material at the B and G (686.7 nm and 430.8 nm) or C and F (656.3 nm and 486.1 nm) Fraunhofer wavelengths, and is meant to express the degree to which a prism cut from the gemstone demonstrates "fire". Fire is a colloquial term used by ...
Refraction of light at the interface between two media of different refractive indices, with n 2 > n 1. Since the velocity is lower in the second medium (v 2 < v 1), the angle of refraction θ 2 is less than the angle of incidence θ 1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer to the normal.
[1]: 236 The birefringence of the material is the difference between these indices of refraction, Δn = n e − n o. [1]: 237 Light propagating in the direction of the optical axis will not be affected by the birefringence since the refractive index will be n o independent of polarization. For other propagation directions the light will split ...
For example, air has a refractive index of 1.0002793 at atmospheric pressure, where there are about 2 × 10 25 molecules per cubic meter, and therefore the major constituent of the atmosphere, nitrogen, has a Rayleigh cross section of 5.1 × 10 −31 m 2 at a wavelength of 532 nm (green light). [14]