/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14996746
okay I've done a bunch of reading and I'm refining my diagram

white light doesn't exist, it's merely a product of the cones in a tight area of our eye all maxing out (like RGB lights). A 'white light' is merely a blast of radiation across the spectrum 380nm to 800nm.

The light separates in the prism because of compton scattering (?). unlike in the cube where the light enters normal to the surface, the prism has the light enter at an angle and so the computed scattering angle differs between the different wavelengths resulting in them diverging. when they exit the prism they are far enough apart to only max out or partially max out 1 or 2 cones in a tight cluster which is why we see the rainbow of colors. I'm guessing that since the atoms of a prism / cube are bonded together, the electron cloud, which is what the wavelengths interact with, sort of blobs together going from spherical to kind of flat-ish which is why the light can enter 'normal' to the surface almost everywhere as opposed to very tiny areas which is also why the prism can decide on a scattering angle after it enters at an angle?