Refraction And Lenses Practice Test

Prisms separate white light by wavelength. Which term best describes this process?

Absorption Reflection Dispersion Refraction

Correct Answer:

Dispersion

Explanation:

Dispersion describes how a prism splits white light into its component wavelengths because the glass bends different colors by different amounts. The refractive index varies with wavelength, so shorter wavelengths bend more than longer ones, and the colors separate to form a spectrum. Absorption would remove some colors, not reveal them as a spread; reflection would bounce light away rather than transmit a spectrum; refraction is the general bending at a boundary, but the wavelength-dependent bending that creates the rainbow all comes from dispersion.

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