A particular spectrograph, used by an astronomer to disperse light into its colors, contains a piece of glass that has been ruled with thousands of closely spaced, parallel lines. What is the name of this piece of glass?
A) interferometer
B) CCD array
C) diffraction grating
D) prism

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The piece of glass with thousands of closely spaced, parallel lines is known as a diffraction grating. It disperses light into its component colors by diffracting the light at different angles depending on the wavelength.

A Particular Spectrograph, Used by an Astronomer to Disperse Light