- Sunlight is made up of a mixture of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo. These colours are the same as that of a rainbow. A prism can be used to see all the colours of the sun. When light passes through a prism, it bends. Each colour can be seen at a different angle. Violet bends the most, while red bends the least.
WHY DON’T WE USUALLY SEE SUNLIGHT AS SEVEN COLOURS?
- We assume sunlight to be white in colour. This is because when all the colours are mixed up, it looks white.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Light refracts, or bends, when it passes from one medium to another. Every colour of sunlight has a different wavelength. When sunlight passes through a prism, the light separates into its constituent colours with the shorter wavelengths refracting at greater angles than the longer wavelengths. Since violet light has the shortest wavelength, it bends the most; red light has the longest wavelength, so it bends the least.
THINGS TO DO
- Cut out a circle from a piece of card and paint it the colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Stick a pencil through the middle of the card and spin it. It looks white.
- With the help of a prism, direct light through it and see for yourself if you see all the colours of the sun.
- Watch the experiment “Invisible Glass Trick” on www.mocomi.com to understand ‘refraction of light’ better.
Hi aniheraw, Please check the link https://mocomi.com/seven-colours-of-the-rainbow/ here you can get answer.
how come the colours from the rainbow is the colours of the sun
Hi Mimo,
The colours get mixed up, so sun light looks white.
why the sunlight’s color isn’t black..???