The spreading of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths is called dispersion. Rainbows are produced by a combination of refraction and reflection and involve the dispersion of sunlight into...The spreading of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths is called dispersion. Rainbows are produced by a combination of refraction and reflection and involve the dispersion of sunlight into a continuous distribution of colors. Dispersion produces beautiful rainbows but also causes problems in certain optical systems.
