Question
How did Sir Issac Newton use a prism to discover the colors of the visible light spectrum?
Based on the passage:
Newton decides to find out. He placed a barrier in front of the separated light. The barrier had a small hole that only one color could pass through. Then he sent that color through a second prism. If the light split, he knew the prism was making colors. If it didn't split, he knew that color was in the light itself.
Newton tried another experiment. He separated light into colors through his prism again. Then he passed that rainbow through a lens. The lens put all the colors back together and created a spot of white light.
Based on the passage:
Newton decides to find out. He placed a barrier in front of the separated light. The barrier had a small hole that only one color could pass through. Then he sent that color through a second prism. If the light split, he knew the prism was making colors. If it didn't split, he knew that color was in the light itself.
Newton tried another experiment. He separated light into colors through his prism again. Then he passed that rainbow through a lens. The lens put all the colors back together and created a spot of white light.
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
Sir Isaac Newton used a prism to investigate the composition of visible light by performing a series of experiments. Initially, he separated white light into its constituent colors using a prism, creating a spectrum. To further explore whether the colors were a result of the prism's effect or inherent to the light itself, he placed a barrier with a small hole in front of the separated light. This allowed only one color to pass through. He then directed this single color through a second prism. If the light split again, it would indicate that the prism was creating new colors; if it did not split, it confirmed that the color was already part of the light.
In a subsequent experiment, Newton focused on the spectrum of colors produced by the first prism and passed it through a lens. The lens successfully recombined the separated colors to produce white light again. This finding demonstrated that white light is made up of multiple colors, which can be separated and then recombined. Through these experiments, Newton laid the foundation for understanding the nature of light and color.
In a subsequent experiment, Newton focused on the spectrum of colors produced by the first prism and passed it through a lens. The lens successfully recombined the separated colors to produce white light again. This finding demonstrated that white light is made up of multiple colors, which can be separated and then recombined. Through these experiments, Newton laid the foundation for understanding the nature of light and color.