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Why does violet light refract the most when it is dispersed by a prism (or a water droplet) in a rainbow?

User WagnerMatosUK
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18 votes

Answer:

Violet light refracts the most because it has a shorter wavelength. The index of refraction is inversely proportional to the wavelength, if the wavelength decreases, the index of refraction increases, so the light with the lowest wavelength will have more diffraction.

User Travis Beck
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