Which colour is fastest?
- Thread starter ViperDave
- Start date
VIPER BAZ UK
Enthusiast
Yellow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GTSDave
Enthusiast
Red!!!
Ha Ha!!!
Hi guys! (Got my membership card this week)
(Bit quieter over here though...)
Ha Ha!!!
Hi guys! (Got my membership card this week)
(Bit quieter over here though...)
VIPER BAZ UK
Enthusiast
VIPER BAZ UK
Enthusiast
Still not as fast as yellow but its now quick again....................
GTSDave
Enthusiast
Light travels the same speed through a vacuum at all wavelengths, but when we send the light through something other than a vacuum, like glass we see that light bends/slows, this is seen through snells law below
n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2)
The parts of the equation n1 & n2 are called the index of refraction, this is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum divided by the speed of light in that substance, so an index of refraction of 1 means that you are in a vacuum, because the speed of light travels the same speed it would in a vacuum. But if you send light through water, water has an index of refraction and light slows down. The process of light slowing down bends the angle at which the direct ray of light travels, so the MORE light slows down the MORE it bends, now say you have a drop of water suspended in a vacuum above your head, white light(which is composed of all frequencies of visible light) hits this clear drop of water and is slowed down and bends, but the different frequencies of light that compose the white light bend different amounts (this amount is small but visible from a distance) the lower frequency light is less affected by the drop of water as it has a longer wavelength and oscillates a lesser amount of times through the distance of the water drop, the higher frequency light oscillates many times through the same water drop and is slowed down more because of it, so it bends more. This process is called diffraction and causes the spectrum of colors in white light to diffract when sent through matter. The blue light(higher frequency) is bent more and the red light is bend less and through this distance of bending is a gradient of light that we call a rainbow.
So, the speed of light is the same for all frequencies in a vacuum BUT when you send light through matter is slows down a certain amount, red light (lower frequency) travels faster than blue light (higher frequency).
The lower frequencies are affected less by traveling through matter, this is why infrared light is used in fiber optics as opposed to ultraviolet or visible light.
Using the Acronym "ROYGBIV", (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) Those are the colours of the spectrum from lowest frequency to highest frequency, so red light travels faster than all the colours that have a higher frequency than it.
So to sum up....
Red is proven to be fastest...
n1*sin(theta1) = n2*sin(theta2)
The parts of the equation n1 & n2 are called the index of refraction, this is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum divided by the speed of light in that substance, so an index of refraction of 1 means that you are in a vacuum, because the speed of light travels the same speed it would in a vacuum. But if you send light through water, water has an index of refraction and light slows down. The process of light slowing down bends the angle at which the direct ray of light travels, so the MORE light slows down the MORE it bends, now say you have a drop of water suspended in a vacuum above your head, white light(which is composed of all frequencies of visible light) hits this clear drop of water and is slowed down and bends, but the different frequencies of light that compose the white light bend different amounts (this amount is small but visible from a distance) the lower frequency light is less affected by the drop of water as it has a longer wavelength and oscillates a lesser amount of times through the distance of the water drop, the higher frequency light oscillates many times through the same water drop and is slowed down more because of it, so it bends more. This process is called diffraction and causes the spectrum of colors in white light to diffract when sent through matter. The blue light(higher frequency) is bent more and the red light is bend less and through this distance of bending is a gradient of light that we call a rainbow.
So, the speed of light is the same for all frequencies in a vacuum BUT when you send light through matter is slows down a certain amount, red light (lower frequency) travels faster than blue light (higher frequency).
The lower frequencies are affected less by traveling through matter, this is why infrared light is used in fiber optics as opposed to ultraviolet or visible light.
Using the Acronym "ROYGBIV", (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) Those are the colours of the spectrum from lowest frequency to highest frequency, so red light travels faster than all the colours that have a higher frequency than it.
So to sum up....
Red is proven to be fastest...
