Final answer:
The white line appears white on a black background a) due to the reflection of light.
Step-by-step explanation:
The white line appears white on a black background because of the nature of how objects interact with light. An object's color is primarily determined by the wavelengths of light it reflects - that is, it appears the color of the light it does not absorb.
In this case, the white line appears white because it is reflecting all colors of the light spectrum. The black background, on the other hand, is absorbing all the light that hits it, reflecting little to none, and thus it appears black.
The interaction of light with objects can be illustrated with a color wheel: a blue section on the wheel looks blue because it will reflect blue light and absorb red and green light; a yellow section will look yellow because it will reflect red and green light and absorb blue.
In a nutshell, the answer to your question is a, due to the reflection of light.
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