Why do prisms create rainbows?

Answer: Different colors bend by different amounts inside the prism

Different colors bend by different amounts inside the prism ✓ — Correct! White light contains all visible colors. When entering a prism, each color refracts at a slightly different angle—violet bends most, red bends least. This separates white light into its spectrum, a phenomenon called dispersion. Newton demonstrated this with prisms in 1666.

The prism reflects colors that are already inside it — Wrong. Prisms don't contain internal colors. They separate existing colors in white light through differential refraction (dispersion).

Changes in light speed inside the glass create new colors — Wrong. Speed does change in glass, but colors appear because different colors refract at different angles, separating the spectrum.