A ray of white light strikes the surface of an object. If all the colours are reflected the surface would appear :

When white light, which is a mixture of all visible wavelengths, strikes a surface, the color perceived depends on which wavelengths are reflected back to the eye. If an object reflects all the visible light in the spectrum equally, it appears white. This occurs because white light contains all the colors of the VIBGYOR sequence, and when a surface reflects all these components without selective absorption, the combined reflected light remains white to the observer. In contrast, black surfaces absorb all incident light, while colored surfaces reflect only specific wavelengths and absorb others. Therefore, a surface that reflects all colors of the incident white light is perceived as white.

Sources

1. [1] Science , class X (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 10: The Human Eye and the Colourful World > Activity 10.2 > p. 167