The spreading or scattering of something over a wide area; in physics, the separation of light into its component colors.
From Latin dispersio (dispersus + -io, noun suffix). Originally meant the act of scattering; adopted by physics to describe how different wavelengths of light separate.
The dispersion of light through a rainbow happens because different colors have slightly different speeds through water droplets—the same principle that separates isotopes in uranium enrichment.
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