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Correct Answer: that white light is actually a mixture of different colors
the correct answer to the question "which of the following is demonstrated by the passing of white light through a prism?" is that white light is actually a mixture of different colors. this phenomenon is scientifically explained through the process of dispersion, where white light is separated into its component colors when it passes through a prism.
when white light, such as sunlight, enters a prism, it encounters a change in medium from air to the denser glass of the prism. this change in medium causes the light to slow down and bend—a process known as refraction. however, not all colors of light bend at the same angle; each color has a slightly different wavelength and thus refracts at a slightly different angle. violet light, having the shortest wavelength, bends the most, while red light, with the longest wavelength, bends the least.
as a result of these differing refraction angles, the colors spread out into a spectrum typically seen as a rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. this separation of colors is what isaac newton famously demonstrated in his prism experiments, conclusively showing that white light is composed of various colors mixed together.
this demonstration dispels the earlier notion that a prism colored the light, instead confirming that the prism merely separates already existing colors within the white light. the spectrum produced by a prism is an important tool in understanding light properties and is utilized in various scientific instruments, including spectrometers, which help in analyzing the composition of light sources. thus, the passing of white light through a prism not only provides a beautiful display of colors but also serves as a fundamental experiment in the study of optics.
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