dispersive power

American  

noun

Optics.

1. a measure of the ability of a substance to disperse light, equal to the quotient of the difference in refractive indices of the substance for two representative wavelengths divided by the difference of the refractive index for an intermediate wavelength and 1.

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Example Sentences

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dispersive power

Further, it has been shown that several of the so-called "basic" lines are resolved, by spectroscopes of great dispersive power, into groups of two or more lines, which lines are not coincident in different spectra.

From Heroes of Science Chemists by M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison) Muir

These effects are due to the difference in dispersive power of the powder and the liquid.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various

In consequence of its low refractive and dispersive power, colourless pellucid fluor-spar is valuable in the construction of apochromatic lenses, but this variety is rare.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

If the refracting angle of the prism is small, then the ratio of the dispersion to the mean deviation of the two rays is the dispersive power of the material of the prism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various

It is used for tableware, and for optical instruments, as prisms, its density giving a high degree of dispersive power; — so called, because formerly the silica was obtained from pulverized flints.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section F, G and H by Project Gutenberg