White light passes through a device that splits it into red, green, and blue components.

White light passes through a device that splits it into red, green, and blue components.

• A. Lens
• B. Prism Block
• C. Filter
• D. Polarizer

Answer: (B)

Dispersion of light through a prism causes different colors to bend by different amounts, so white light entering a prism spreads into its constituent colors. In glass, blue light slows and bends more than red light, creating a separation of red, green, and blue as the rays exit. A prism block is designed to produce this separation, turning white light into distinct color components. A lens, by contrast, focuses or forms an image and can introduce chromatic aberration but does not split white light into separate colors. A filter changes which wavelengths pass through but doesn’t create separate color components from a single beam. A polarizer selects a particular polarization and also doesn’t separate light into colors.

Dispersion of light through a prism causes different colors to bend by different amounts, so white light entering a prism spreads into its constituent colors. In glass, blue light slows and bends more than red light, creating a separation of red, green, and blue as the rays exit. A prism block is designed to produce this separation, turning white light into distinct color components.

A lens, by contrast, focuses or forms an image and can introduce chromatic aberration but does not split white light into separate colors. A filter changes which wavelengths pass through but doesn’t create separate color components from a single beam. A polarizer selects a particular polarization and also doesn’t separate light into colors.