An incident ray of white light passes from air into glass....

An incident ray of white light passes from air into glass. Which color of light will experience the greatest refraction?
(A) Red
(B) Green
(C) Blue
(D) Violet
(E) None. All colors of light will be refracted at the same angle.

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Key Concepts

Refractive Index

The refractive index of a material quantifies how much light slows down in that medium compared to its speed in a vacuum. It varies with wavelength, meaning that different colors of light can have slightly different refractive indices even in the same material.

Wavelength Dependence

The dependence on wavelength implies that shorter wavelengths, which are toward the violet end of the spectrum, are refracted more strongly than longer wavelengths, such as red light. This characteristic underlies phenomena like the separation of light in prisms.

Refraction

Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another with a different optical density. This change in speed causes light to change direction, and the amount of bending is dependent on the light's wavelength and the refractive indices of the two media involved.

Dispersion

Dispersion is the process by which white light separates into its constituent colors when refracted. This occurs because different wavelengths of light travel at different speeds in a medium, causing them to refract at different angles.

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