In a prism, violet light undergoes more refraction than light of higher wavelength. Is there any explanation as to why light of higher frequencies refract more than light of lower frequencies?
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One way to look at this is to go to the definition of the index of refraction $$n = \frac{c}{v}$$ v is related to the wavelength and frequency as $$v = \lambda f$$ So the index of refraction becomes $$n = \frac{c}{\lambda f}$$ Frequency remains the same when light goes into a new medium, so the only difference between light of different colors is the wavelength. The lower wavelength of violet light will give a greater value for n, and so light will be refracted more.
