alleryStart learning →What is dispersion?
ABouncing of white light from a smooth surface
BTrapping of white light inside a dense solid
CBlending of separate colours into white light
DSpreading of white light into its full spectrum
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Spreading of white light into its full spectrum
1. Dispersion is defined as the spreading of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths.
2. More generally, it happens whenever a process changes the direction of light by an amount that depends on wavelength.
3. A glass prism and a raindrop both disperse sunlight into the same sequence of colours.
4. Blending colours back into white is the reverse process and is not what the word means.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 25 "Geometric Optics", section 25.5 Dispersion: The Rainbow and Prisms_
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