In the context of optics, what is the term for the decomposition of light into various colors?

The term that describes the decomposition of light into its various colors is dispersion. This phenomenon occurs when light passes through a medium, such as a prism, causing the different colors or wavelengths of light to separate. Each color bends at a different angle due to its varying speed in the medium, resulting in a spectrum of colors visible to the observer.

For example, when white light enters a prism, it slows down and bends according to its wavelength, leading to the formation of a rainbow of colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This principle explains why a prism can split white light into its constituent colors, illustrating the concept of dispersion effectively.

In contrast, chromatic aberration refers to an optical defect wherein a lens fails to bring all colors to the same focal point, scattering colors differently. Scattering involves the redirection of light rays in various directions, depending on the size of particles they encounter, and does not specifically refer to the separation of colors. Transmission is simply the passing of light through a medium without defining how that light may change or decompose in color. Therefore, dispersion is the most accurate term to describe the separation of light into its constituent colors.