The splitting up of white light into a spectrum is known as dispersion. White light is a mixture of all the different colours of the spectrum. In a prism, as white light enters, it slows down due to refraction which also means that its speed changes. Dispersion occurs because each colour is refracted by a different amount. The colours of the spectrum include:
Light can be represented as a wave. Red light has a greater wavelength then violet light . This is because both lights travel at the same speeds but violet light has a greater frequency. The waves that make up visible light have very high frequencies.