Spectrum Through Water

Spectrum Through Water

Purpose

To create a spectrum using a beam of light passing through water

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Additional information

A glass simple prism can be used to split a beam of white light into its component colors. The phenomenon due to which white light splits into component colors is called dispersion.

Required materials

• Shallow bowl
• Water
• Mirror
• Torch

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Estimated Experiment Time

Less than 5 minutes

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Step-By-Step Procedure

• 1. Fill a shallow bowl with water
• 2. Place a mirror in this shallow bowl containing water so that it is at an angle of about 30 degrees to the surface of the water
• 3. Make the room dark (switch off lights / cover windows with dark cloth or paper)
• 4. Shine the torch on the mirror

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Note

The angle at which the mirror is placed is crucial to the formation of the spectrum on the ceiling.

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Observation

When a beam of light from the torch is shone on the mirror immersed in water, a small spectrum of rainbow colors appears on the ceiling.

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Result

The experiment proves that white light is composed of different colors of the spectrum, each possessing different wave lengths. Each water molecule acts as a simple prism causing the refraction of each wave length of light at a different angles ultimately leading to the formation of the colors of the spectrum on the surface on which the reflected beam of light falls.