OpenOlympiad
Concept 9 of 9Foundation
Video

White light and rainbow colours

Sunlight LOOKS white but is actually a mix of seven colours. A prism (triangular glass) splits it into:

VIBGYOR — Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red.

Why seven colours? Each colour bends a slightly different amount when refracted. Violet bends most, red bends least. After passing through the prism, they emerge separated.

A rainbow in the sky is nature's prism — tiny raindrops split sunlight. The same VIBGYOR colours appear, with red on the outside and violet inside.

Example
Spray water on a sunny day. Stand with the Sun behind you. You'll see a faint rainbow in the mist.
💡 Tip:The sky is blue because small air molecules scatter blue light more than red. Sunset is red because light travels through more atmosphere, scattering away blues.
Prefer a video? Open YouTube search for “dispersion of light prism rainbow class 6

🎯 Try it!

5 questions to check what you just read.

0 / 5
  1. Q1.White sunlight is made of:
  2. Q2.A prism splits white light by:
  3. Q3.In a rainbow, which colour is OUTERmost?
  4. Q4.Why is the sky blue?
  5. Q5.Natural rainbow forms because of: