Why is dispersion more prominent in a triangularshaped prism than a square block?

Answer 1

Snell's Law of Refraction:
n1*sin(angle1) = n2*sin(angle2)
where n is the index of refraction, and the angles are incident angles.

Whenever light hits the face of a prism, the refracted light is bent towards the normal to the plane (the normal is the line drawn perpendicular).

The incident angles are always measured from the normal to the plane they encounter. And by Snell's Law, the greater the incident angle, the greater the refracted angle.

Well, these angles depend on the indexes of refraction, which depends on the materials and the wavelengths of the light. Well, white light contains all the colors, and so the different colors, each with their own index of refraction specific to the material, will bend differently and separate.

Once it passes through the first plane, in a rectangular prism, the colors are already well lined up with the second face (because the faces are parallel, their normals are the same). Thus, the angle of incidence on the second face (which is always measured from the normal) isn't as great, and so they don't separate as much the second time.

With a triangle, on the other hand, even after the first face, they're still big angles of incidence with the second face, which further separates the colors.

Answer 2

Sharper angles of refraction result in wider dispersion.

Answer 3

It has something to do with the flux capacitor.

Answer 4

3d ys. 2d...cmon