What is the primary reason that different colors of light can be seen when light passes through a prism?

The primary reason that different colors of light can be seen when light passes through a prism is due to refraction. When light enters the prism, it changes speed as it moves from air (a less dense medium) into the glass (a denser medium). This change in speed causes the light to bend, or refract, at different angles depending on its wavelength. Each color in the visible spectrum has a different wavelength; shorter wavelengths (like blue and violet) bend more than longer wavelengths (like red). As a result, the various colors spread out into a spectrum, allowing us to see the distinct colors produced by the refraction of light.

Other processes like reflection, diffraction, and scattering may affect how we perceive light, but they do not primarily account for the separation of colors when light passes through a prism. Reflection refers to light bouncing off surfaces, diffraction involves the bending of light around obstacles or spreading out when it passes through small openings, and scattering describes the diffusion of light in different directions when it interacts with particles or molecules in the atmosphere or other media. However, none of these phenomena explain the separation of colors as effectively as refraction does in the context of a prism.