Polychromatic light is the light radiation that consists of more than one coloured light wave. The word polychromatic is derived from two Greek words, ‘poly’ and ‘chromos’. ‘Poly’ means one; whereas, ‘chromos’ means colour. The wavelength of the photons contained by polychromatic light fall within the range of the electromagnetic spectrum that is easily visible to human eyes called visible light; however, the colour contained by a polychromatic light can not be distinguished by naked eyes. Polychromatic lights can be used in a variety of applications such as astrophysics, astronomy, experimental physics, etc. In simple words, polychromatic light is made up of light waves of different colours.
Examples of Polychromatic Light
1. White Light
White light typically consists of a spectrum of light that can be abbreviated as VIBGYOR. All the colours contained in the spectrum of light have different wavelengths, hence the light obtained from the sun forms a prominent example of polychromatic light radiations in real life. The presence of light radiations of seven different colours in the sunlight can be easily verified by passing the ray of sunlight through a glass prism.
2. Mercury Light
Mercury light consists of eight or more types of light radiations which is why it falls under the category of polychromatic light radiations. Such type of lighting is typically preferred in parking lots, streets, restaurants, cafe’s, and other relevant places.
