White light is allowed to fall on the bright side of a compact disc (CD). The reflected light is allowed to fall on a white wall. Observe the colors available in the spectrum and write them down in the science diary.

The colours observed on the white wall are:

•Violet

•Indigo

•Blue

•Green

•Yellow

•Orange

•Red

That is all the colour which consist white light can be observed because we know that CD is made up of thousands of pits arranged in the form of spiral tracks. When visible light is incident on the pits, each pit diffracts light in all directions, they separate a composite white light into its constituents. Thus, rainbow colours are formed.

Hence the observation of the rainbow colour is due to the diffraction of white light into its components.

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