What happens when light passes through a prism?

Prepare for the Electromagnetic Spectrum and Light Test. Engage with interactive questions and insights. Ensure success in your exam!

When light passes through a prism, it is dispersed into a spectrum of colors. This phenomenon occurs due to the refraction of light, which is the bending of light waves as they move from one medium to another. In the case of a prism, which is typically made of glass or another transparent material, light enters the prism and slows down, causing it to change direction.

Different wavelengths of light are bent by different amounts; shorter wavelengths (like violet and blue) are refracted more than longer wavelengths (like red). This differential bending separates the colors of light, creating a spectrum. The result is the visible array of colors known as the spectrum, which typically includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

This process reveals the composition of white light, which is a mixture of different colors. The other options describe scenarios that do not occur when light interacts with a prism. Light is neither absorbed completely, reflected back, nor unchanged; instead, it is transformed into a spectrum through the physical properties of refraction.