Did you know this, about the Theory of Light ?

I can't recall all the physics involved in the prism but some of the factors are
frequency of the light and speed of the light. Also the medium in which the light
passes and the rules of refraction that govern the passage through different
mediums. Also the geometry of the prism seems to cause the color separation.
The medium and geometry seem to cause separation showing the frequencies
of light. The speed of light changes in the medium according to theory.

Everything seems to be in order and there might be more detail in physics as
to how all combine. Getting either end of the spectrum by the edge effect
seems to be OK.
ED: Oops in my first post I said colors were slower as this might be the
impression but the color frequency not the medium speed is the factor.
So some how at the prism refractions the colors are made to appear.
Still the basic stuff and the OP experiment still has the working at the
edge for another effect.

reply to post by TeslaandLyne


Both the 2 Edges of the slit are required... Not just the Prism...

Look carefully at the Drawings...


and....





See how the White Light does NOT Split, but passes through the Prism (WHITE LIGHT between the Colour Bands) unaffected other than being refracted.

We also get the same result if we interchange the positions of the Prism and Edge.


and.....


If you can find an old pair of binoculars.... extract the prism and try this yourself.

Prisms can also be found in old Cameras.

reply to post by TeslaandLyne


If you only use a prism, without the Slit then the Light behaves in this way....


The Extremities of the physical Prism, form the widened or opened Slit....

The Edge produces this effect....


And.....

reply to post by The Matrix Traveller




Is b. the original Newton experiment with the full rainbow?
If light is sound waves in the fine matter what would happen in a sound or water
experiment. Would sound be split into highs and lows and waves be split into
long and short waves. I guess there is no sound or water prism.

Thanks for the great experiment in nature. The only way to discover how to
use it.

reply to post by TeslaandLyne

In my last Drawing...

a.= A wide Slit
and...
b.= A narrow Slit.

It doesn't matter which way round you have the "Slit" and "Prism"...

The "Slit" can be first, before the "Prism"...

Or the "Prism" can be first, before the "Slit"...

You get the same result....

But 2 Components must be used...

a. At very least one edge.....

this will either give a colour band if either YELLOW to RED or BLUE to VIOLET, depending on the orientation of the edge to the Prism.

The "Slit" is only using 2 edges instead of One... (One inverted over the other).

b. A Prism.

This drawing shows both set-ups....

I got to page 3 and skipped to the end so I'm sorry if it's already been mentioned...

If I'm understanding this correctly, a particular shade of green has no inverse? Or perhaps it would be better to say it's inverse is the same value. Like how sine and cosine intersect at the square root of 1/2.

Also, I'm assuming that the light is moving faster through the thicker part of the prism which is why the bottom part is in the blues while the smaller part of the prism is projecting the reds.

reply to post by circlemaker


First, thank you for your Post...

If I'm understanding this correctly, a particular shade of green has no inverse? Or perhaps it would be better to say it's inverse is the same value. Like how sine and cosine intersect at the square root of 1/2.

en.wikipedia.org...

Quote;

Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color model. The exact hue “complementary” to a given hue depends on the model in question, and perceptually uniform, additive, and subtractive color models, for example, have differing complements for any given color.

In color theory, two colors are called complementary if, when mixed in the proper proportion, they produce a neutral color (grey, white, or black).
In roughly-perceptual color models, the neutral colors (white, greys, and black) lie along a central axis. For example, in the HSV color space, complementary colors (as defined in HSV) lie opposite each other on any horizontal cross-section.
Thus, in the CIE 1931 color space a color of a particular "dominant" wavelength can be mixed with a particular amount of the "complementary" wavelength to produce a neutral color (grey or white).
In the RGB color model (and derived models such as HSV), primary colors and secondary colors are paired in this way:
red and cyan
green and magenta
blue and yellow

So the Complementary colour of GREEN is MAGENTA...

The "Opposite" of GREEN is MAGENTA...

Consisting of Both the "Outer" Colours RED & VIOLET....

Originally posted by The Matrix Traveller
So the Complementary colour of GREEN is MAGENTA...

The "Opposite" of GREEN is MAGENTA...

Consisting of Both the "Outer" Colours RED & VIOLET....

I think I get it.

For example: Take a circular color palette and condense it into a quarter circle. If green was the center (45 degrees), magenta would be split in two and existing on the outsides (0 and 90 degrees). Until I saw your prism example I wasn't entirely sure where the "center" would be.

Also in my previous post I may have confused sound with light in the sense that sound travels faster through solid objects faster, yet light doesn't? I'm still trying to grasp that one.