- #1
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Hi
This is probably pretty basic but I've asked a few times in various internet forums over the years and never gotten an answer.
If you print a black bar on a white packground and a white bar on a black background and view each bar through a prism, held at the same angle, the spectrum flips. I don't have a prism on hand so forget the color order but this is basically what you see at the transitions from black to white.
black bar/white background
red-----------------------blue
white bar/black background
blue----------------------red
I'm a sculptor by training so have only a rudimentary knowlege of optics but for all appearances, it would seem that red and blue light follow the exact same path through the prism (are refracted the same) depending on whether the background is dark or light. Can anyone explain the cause of this spectrum flip?
Thanks
Ken
This is probably pretty basic but I've asked a few times in various internet forums over the years and never gotten an answer.
If you print a black bar on a white packground and a white bar on a black background and view each bar through a prism, held at the same angle, the spectrum flips. I don't have a prism on hand so forget the color order but this is basically what you see at the transitions from black to white.
black bar/white background
red-----------------------blue
white bar/black background
blue----------------------red
I'm a sculptor by training so have only a rudimentary knowlege of optics but for all appearances, it would seem that red and blue light follow the exact same path through the prism (are refracted the same) depending on whether the background is dark or light. Can anyone explain the cause of this spectrum flip?
Thanks
Ken