9 Colour

Dispersion

1. When pure white light falls on a triangular prism, a band of colours called the
spectrum is obtained. The effect is called dispersion.
2. This tells that
a. White is light is a mixture of colours and
b. They separate because the refractive index of the glass for each of the colours
are different.
3. This is because different colours have different wavelengths, red longest and bent the
least, and violet the shortest and bent the most.
4. A pure spectrum is one where the colours do not overlap, as they do when a prism is
used. It needs a convex lens to focus each colour.

Recombining the Spectrum

5. You can re combine the spectrum to form white light by

a. Using another prism (upside down) to deviate the light in the opposite
direction (2 rays of light with colored edges are produced because the angle
between the 2 prisms are not exact).
b. Spinning a card with the individual colours painted on it very fast. The white
light produced is slightly grey because paints are not pure colours).

Colour of an object

6. The colour of an object depends of the colour of the light the colour it reflects.
7. A filter produces light in one colour and absorbs all the others. It is made of celluloid.
If white light falls on a red filter, on the colours except red is absorbed and right is
reflected.
8. Opaque objects do not let pass through but they are seen by light reflecting from
them. A white object is seen white in white light, red in red light and blue in blue light
because white is made of all the colours mixed together so in red light all the colours
but red are absorbed. A red object is seen red in white and red light but black in blue
light because no light is reflected, blackness indicates the absence of colour.

Mixing Coloured Lights

1. In Science the primary colour of light are red, blue and green because none of
them can be produced from other colours of light.
2. Red + green = yellow, green + blue = cyan, red +blue = magenta.
3. The colours produced when 2 primary colours are mixed is called secondary
colours.
4. The primary colour together give white light, so do the secondary colours.
 5. Any 2 colour that give white light are called complementary colours, blue +
yellow = white, yellow is a mixture of red + green, so adding yellow is the same
as adding all the primary colours.

Questions

1. c. Magenta splits in the prism and gives red and blue light on the screen.

2. A sheet of white paper is viewed through a piece of blue glass and the paper looks blue.
This is because the glass absorbs all colours except blue.

3.a. white, white

b. red because magenta is made of red and blue light.
c. red because is made of red and green.