物理学史上最美的十个实验第四名Newton'sdecompositionofsunlightwithaprism牛顿用棱镜分解太阳光IsaacNewtonwasborntheyearGalileodied
HegraduatedfromTrinityCollege,Cambridge,in1665,thenholedupathomeforacoupleofyearswaitingouttheplague
Hehadnotroublekeepinghimselfoccupied
Thecommonwisdomheldthatwhitelightisthepurestform(Aristotleagain)andthatcoloredlightmustthereforehavebeenalteredsomehow
Totestthishypothesis,Newtonshinedabeamofsunlightthroughaglassprismandshowedthatitdecomposedintoaspectrumcastonthewall
Peoplealreadyknewaboutrainbows,ofcourse,buttheywereconsideredtobelittlemorethanprettyaberrations
Actually,Newtonconcluded,itwasthesecolors—red,orange,yellow,green,blue,indigo,violetandthegradationsinbetween—thatwerefundamental
Whatseemedsimpleonthesurface,abeamofwhitelight,was,ifonelookeddeeper,beautifullycomplex
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