Why do prisms split white light?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Each color bends differently
Light reflects multiple times — Wrong. Internal reflections can enhance effect, but splitting occurs due to dispersion—different wavelengths refract at different angles.
Each color bends differently ✓ — Correct! White light is mixture of all visible wavelengths (colors). Glass refractive index varies slightly with wavelength—dispersion. Short wavelengths (violet/blue) refract more than long wavelengths (red/orange). Prism bends different colors at different angles—separating them into spectrum (ROYGBIV). Same principle creates rainbows (water droplets act as prisms). Newton used prisms to prove white light is composite, not pure!
Prism adds color to light — Wrong. Prism doesn't add color—white light already contains all colors. Prism separates them through dispersion (wavelength-dependent refraction).