Question

What happens to a white light when it passes through a prism?

Answer 1

When light passes through a prism the light bends. As a result, the different colors that make up white light become separated. This happens because each color has a particular wavelength and each wavelength bends at a different angle. The formation of the spectrum of seven colors shows that white light is a mixture of seven colors (or seven colored light). The effect of transparent medium (like glass prism) is only to separate the seven colors of white light. White light is a mixture of lights of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The dispersion of light occurs because the angle of refraction (or the angle of bending) of lights of different colors is different when passing through the transparent medium (glass prism).