Why is red refracted the least

Because the colors of light travel at different speeds, they get bent by different amounts and come out all spread out instead of mixed up. Violet travels the slowest so it is on the bottom and red travels the fastest so is on the top. This is because what is called the index of refraction, the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a material , is increased for the slower moving waves i. The higher index of refraction means that violet light is the most bent, and red is then the least bent because of its lower index of refraction, and the other colors fall somewhere in between.

When the air is full of water, like after a rainstorm, the water droplets act like a prism and can make a rainbow. Rainbows are circular in shape because the prisms raindrops that created them are spherical. U niversity of W isconsin —Madison. What is Heat? What is Light? What is Magnetism? What is Motion? What is Sound? Donate Volunteer. Asked on 9th Jun, View More. Referral Program Distribute the referral code to your friends and ask them to register with Tutorix using this referral code.

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