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White light is dispersed by a glass prism into the colors of the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is the band of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light (or simply light).
By definition, visible light is the part of the EM spectrum the human eye is the most sensitive to. Visible light (and near-infrared light) is typically absorbed and emitted by electrons in molecules and atoms that move from one energy level to another. This action allows the chemical mechanisms that underlie human vision and plant photosynthesis.
Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. [1] Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 terahertz .
Light of composite wavelengths (natural sunlight) disperses into a visible spectrum passing through a prism, because of the wavelength-dependent refractive index of the prism material ; that is, each component wave within the composite light is bent a different amount. [19]
The plot for vapor is a transformation of data Synthetic spectrum for gas mixture ' Pure H 2 O ' (296K, 1 atm) retrieved from Hitran on the Web Information System. [6] Liquid water absorption spectrum across a wide wavelength range [missing source] The absorption of electromagnetic radiation by water depends on the state of the water.
Visible-light astronomy is part of optical astronomy, [clarification needed] and differs from astronomies based on invisible types of light in the electromagnetic radiation spectrum, such as radio waves, infrared waves, ultraviolet waves, X-ray waves and gamma-ray waves. Visible light ranges from 380 to 750 nanometers in wavelength.
Up until the 1940s, astronomers could only use the visible and near infrared portions of the optical spectrum for their observations. The first great astronomical discoveries such as the ones made by the famous Italian polymath Galileo Galilei were made using optical telescopes that received light reaching the ground through the optical window ...
The spectrum of a standard illuminant, like any other profile of light, can be converted into tristimulus values. The set of three tristimulus coordinates of an illuminant is called a white point . If the profile is normalized , then the white point can equivalently be expressed as a pair of chromaticity coordinates .