0

Speed of light is different for different colours. What does the speed of a particular colour of light depend on? Which colour of light has the highest speed?

Dyuti
  • 37

1 Answers1

1

Dispersion is not the only one phenomenon, where photons of different energy are acting different. In the case of reemission of photons in materials as well as in the case of dissipation of photons in materials the visible for us result is a transparent material like glas. But due to this two effects the speed of light in materials is different.

As you see in the dispersion phenomenon the way through a material is different for different wavelengths. Good examples for different behavior are glass and concrete. Glass is designed to let through visible light and it is more or less intransparent for ultraviolet radiation. Concrete doesn't let through visible light but with terahertz and x-ray radiation one can see behind walls. So the speed of light for visible light is zero in concrete. To be correct, this are macroscopic phenomena, on the atomic level the phenomenons of absorption, reemission and diffraction often are going hand in hand.

HolgerFiedler
  • 10,334