In optics, a dispersing prism is a type of optical prism, usually having the shape of a geometrical triangular prism. It is the most widely known type of optical prism, although perhaps not the most common in actual use. Dispersing prisms are typically used for applications that require wavelength separation. For example, using a dispersing prism, white light can be separated into its component colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. The ability to separate wavelengths in a beam of light is typically useful in fields such as laser tuning and spectroscopy.