I have a prism hanging in my window. At this time of the year the spectrum of light is thrown across the room in the afternoon.



Newton observed that when a narrow beam of sunlight strikes the face of a glass prism at an angle, some is reflected and some of the beam passes into and through the glass, emerging as different colored bands. Newton hypothesized that light was made up of "corpuscles" (particles) of different colors, and that the different colors of light moved at different speeds in transparent matter, with red light moving more quickly in glass than violet. The result is that red light bends (refracted) less sharply than violet as it passes through the prism, creating a spectrum of colors.
Newton divided the spectrum into seven named colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. (Some schoolchildren memorize this order using the mnemonics ROY G. BIV or Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.) He chose seven colors out of a belief, derived from the ancient Greek sophists, that there was a connection between the colors, the musical notes, the known objects in the solar system, and the days of the week. The human eye is relatively insensitive to indigo's frequencies, and some otherwise well-sighted people cannot distinguish indigo from blue and violet.

Great idea ! Nicely done these colourful pictures :)) helys · 2011-01-29: 04:39

Fantastic shots!! finbarr · 2011-01-29: 04:53

Wow, that's fantastic! jet28 · 2011-01-29: 04:57

Wow...what a wonderful way to bring colour into the winter world...beautiful cariad · 2011-01-29: 05:11

Feel like you are in a disco pub? Haha... promise · 2011-01-29: 05:56

very nice my favorite is #one ????? · 2011-01-29: 06:53

Read Out Your Green Book in Verse! Lovely shots Lynda · 2011-01-29: 07:24

wow! that looks so lovely! carissamarie · 2011-01-29: 07:51

Neat effects. I really like the last one with the different patterns and colors. dontblink · 2011-01-29: 07:56

Too cool! RayNvb · 2011-01-29: 08:37

Great! davidcardona · 2011-01-29: 10:19

Very cool, love prisms! darfoster · 2011-01-29: 11:01

Fantastic shots!! Davorka · 2011-01-29: 11:31

Love the fantastice color set ^_^ jiabjiab · 2011-01-29: 11:32

Nice! These are really strong, I love the one on the steps! DancingDolphin · 2011-01-29: 13:06

Beautiful spectrum and great photo! Perfect description and presentation, I love it! imrepapa · 2011-01-29: 13:34

Wow, your house must be a magical place in the afternoon! These are wonderful...especially first and last for me! lookagain · 2011-01-29: 18:54

Fascinating! Love all the colors and explanation:-) Look at my post on "smooth" at the prism perfume bottle.. NellyBly · 2011-01-29: 20:35

Fantastic! wildduck · 2011-01-30: 08:44

Lovely rainbow noptek · 2011-01-31: 12:13

Awesome! Kozuka · 2011-02-01: 05:01

Cool!! eternity65 · 2011-02-05: 05:05