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Dispersion is the breaking up of light into its constituent colours. We can achieve this with a prism or a diffraction grating.
Use the light box connected to 12V on the power pack and use the end that has a lens in it. The lens is to focus the beam as straight as possible. Move the slider to get a beam that is as parallel on each edge as possible. Use the single slit slide on the lens side of the light box.
Method
Part A - white light
1. Choose the triangular prism and place it on a white sheet of paper.
2. Change its position unit you achieve a rainbow effect.
3. Trace around the prisms and mark the middle of the incident beam in two place so you can trace the direction of the line later.
4. Mark the points where the rainbow emerges and further along on each side of the rainbow.
5. Note the light colour on each side of the rainbow on your diagram
6. Take a photo
Part B - laser light
1. Change the light box source for the laser.
2. On the same sheet aim the laser on the path of the light.
3. Take observations and take a photo
Questions
1. Why does the light bend when it goes through the prism?
2. What happens when the white light re-emerges from the prism?
3. What happens when the laser light re-emerges from the prism?
4. Explain why you get different results for laser light and white light?
5. The light produced in a synchrotron has a continuous range, has very high brightness, is polarised and collimated. Find out the meaning of these words and reflect on how synchrotron light might behave in this experiment.
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