Which optical component splits white light into red, green, and blue components?

Which optical component splits white light into red, green, and blue components?

• A. Color Wheel
• B. Prism Block
• C. Dichroic Mirror
• D. Polarizing Beam Splitter

Answer: (B)

Dispersion of light in a prism is what separates white light into its spectral components. White light contains many wavelengths, and when it passes through a prism, each wavelength slows and bends by a different amount. This causes the colors to spread out into a spectrum, with red bending the least and blue bending the most, so green sits in between. In practice, this spread reveals the red, green, and blue components among the visible colors, which is why a prism is used to split light into its color channels. Other devices don’t separate light by wavelength in the same broad, three-channel way: filters or color wheels select colors, mirrors and coatings split light differently, and polarization-based devices separate by orientation rather than color.

Dispersion of light in a prism is what separates white light into its spectral components. White light contains many wavelengths, and when it passes through a prism, each wavelength slows and bends by a different amount. This causes the colors to spread out into a spectrum, with red bending the least and blue bending the most, so green sits in between. In practice, this spread reveals the red, green, and blue components among the visible colors, which is why a prism is used to split light into its color channels. Other devices don’t separate light by wavelength in the same broad, three-channel way: filters or color wheels select colors, mirrors and coatings split light differently, and polarization-based devices separate by orientation rather than color.