A beam of light that consists of a mixture of red,green and violet light strikes a prism (surrounded by air)as shown.Indices of refraction for this prism for the various colors are indicated in the table.An observer is located to the right of the prism as shown.

-Which physical phenomenon is illustrated by the fact that the prism has different refractive indices for different colors?
A)Doppler effect
B)dispersion
C)diffraction
D)total internal reflection
E)interference

Question

A beam of light that consists of a mixture of red,green and violet light strikes a prism (surrounded by air)as shown.Indices of refraction for this prism for the various colors are indicated in the table.An observer is located to the right of the prism as shown.
  
-Which physical phenomenon is illustrated by the fact that the prism has different refractive indices for different colors?
A)Doppler effect 
B)dispersion 
C)diffraction 
D)total internal reflection 
E)interference

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the prism has different refractive indices for different colors illustrates the phenomenon of dispersion, which is the splitting of white light into its component colors. This occurs because different colors of light have different wavelengths, and as a result, they are refracted at slightly different angles as they pass through the prism.

A Beam of Light That Consists of a Mixture of Red,green