COLOR

COLOR
KEY TOPICS
VISIBLE SPECTRUM
COLOR VISION
BLACK AND WHITE
COLOR ADDITION
COLOR SUBTRACTION
COMPLIMENTARY COLORS

THE PhET SIMULATION CALLED

COLOR VISION SHOWS HOW AN
OBSERVER CAN PERCEIVE NEW
COLORS BY ADDING WAVELENGTHS
OF RED, BLUE AND GREEN LIGHT.

VISIBLE SPECTRUM
Red Increasing Decreasing
Orange
Frequency Wavelength
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
Remember Roy G. Biv

THE COLOR OF AN
OBJECT
THIS VIDEO SHOWS THAT THE
COLOR AN OBJECT APPEARS
DEPENDS NOT ONLY ON THE WAY
THAT AN OBJECT REFLECTS
COLORS, BUT ALSO ON THE
COLOR OF THE LIGHT THAT IS
ILLUMINATING THE OBJECT.

THE COLOR OF AN OBJECT

THE COLOR THAT AN OBJECT
APPEARS DEPENDS ON
1. THE SELECTIVE REFLECTION OF
WAVELENGTHS OF THE OBJECT.
2. THE WAVELENGTHS PRESENT IN THE
LIGHT THAT IS ILLUMINATING THE
OBJECT
3. THE COLOR RESPONSE OF THE
OBSERVER

CLASSIFYING BY
COLOR
THE COLOR THAT AN
OBSERVER ASSIGNS TO AN
OBJECT IS THE COLOR THAT
IT APPEARS UNDER WHITE
LIGHT.

WHITE LIGHT
LIGHT THAT IS MADE UP OF ALL
VISIBLE WAVE LENGTHS OF EQUAL
INTENSITY.
SLIGHT VARIATION IN THE INTENSITY
OF WAVELENGTHS CAN STILL
PRODUCE THE SENSATION WHITE

WHITE
Any combination of wavelengths
that stimulates the red, blue and
green sensitive cones equally will
produce the sensation white.

BLACK
THE ABSENCE OF
LIGHT

AN OBJECT WITH A
CHARACTERISTIC COLOR MAY
APPEAR BLACK IF IT APPEARS
MUCH DARKER THAN ITS
SURROUNDINGS.

THE COLOR BLACK

THE SENSATION THAT OCCURS AT NO
OR LOW LIGHT INTENSITY.
AN OBJECT MAY APPEAR BLACK IF
THE INTENSITY OF ITS REFLECTED
LIGHT IS MUCH LOWER THAN THE
SURROUNDINGS SO THAT IT APPEARS
THAT NO LIGHT IS COMING FROM THE
OBJECT.

COLOR ADDITION
THE ILLUMINATION OF
OBJECTS WITH
MULTIPLE COLORED
LIGHT SOURCES.

ADDITIVE
PRIMARIES
RED - BLUE GREEN
THESE COLORS CAN BE USED TO
STIMULATE THE THREE
DIFFERENT CONES AND
PRODUCE ALL POSSIBLE
COLORS.

SIMULATION
SURENDRANATHS CD HAS A
SIMULATION OF COLOR ADDITION THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO PRODUCE ANY COLOR
BY VARYING THE AMOUNT OF RED,
BLUE OR GREEN LIGHT PRESENT.

RULES OF COLOR ADDITION

THE ADDITIVE PRIMARIES CAN BE
USED TO PREDICT THE COLOR OF A
WHITE OBJECT
RED + BLUE = MAGENTA
BLUE + GREEN = CYAN
RED + GREEN = YELLOW
RED + GREEN + BLUE = WHITE

APPLICATIONS OF
COLOR ADDITION
STAGE LIGHTING
COLOR TELEVISION

COMPLIMENTARY COLORS
TWO COLORS WHICH WHEN ADDED
PRODUCE WHITE

RED + CYAN = WHITE

BLUE + YELLOW = WHITE
GREEN + MAGENTA = WHITE

COMPLIMENTARY COLORS
SURENDRANATHS SIMULATION OF COLOR
ADDITION CAN BE USED TO SHOW
COMPLIMENTARY COLORS.
YOU MUST FIRST ADD TWO ADDITIVE
PRIMARIES TO PRODUCE A SUBTRACTIVE
PRIMARY.
WHEN YOU ADD THE THIRD ADDITIVE
PRIMARY TO THIS SUBTRACTIVE PRIMARY,
YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY ARE
COMPLIMENTAY, BECAUSE THEY PRODUCE
WHITE.

COLOR FILTERS
The PhET simulation called
Color Vision shows that
color filters are named by
the color they pass.

COLOR SUBTRACTION
THE PRODUCTION OF COLOR BY
REMOVING WAVELENGTHS OF LIGHT.
SELECTIVE REFLECTION IS THE MOST
COMMON PROCESS FOR COLOR
SUBTRACTION.
SELECTIVE TRANSMISSION WITH
COLOR FILTERS CAN BE USED ALSO.

SIMULATION
SURENDRANATHS CD HAS A
SIMULATION OF COLOR
SUBTRACTION THAT ALLOWS YOU
TO PRODUCE ANY COLOR BY
VARYING THE AMOUNT OF
YELLOW, CYAN AND MAGENTA
LIGHT THAT IS PRESENT.

VIDEO
A FLASHLIGHT CAN BE USED TO
SHOW COLOR SUBTRACTION WHEN
COLOR FILTERS ARE PLACED IN
FRONT OF IT BEAM.
A WHITE PIECE OF PAPER MUST BE
PLACED IN FRONT OF THE BEAM TO
PRODUCE A REGION OF EQUAL
BRIGHTNESS

SUBTRACTIVE PRIMARIES
THE SUBTRACTIVE PRIMARIES CAN BE
USED TO REMOVE WAVELENGTHS
FROM WHITE LIGHT TO PRODUCE ALL
OTHER COLORS.

YELLOW CYAN MAGENTA

RULES OF COLOR
SUBTRACTION
WHITE YELLOW = BLUE
WHITE CYAN = RED
WHITE MAGNETA = GREEN

COLOR SUBTRACTION
Common applications:
1.Mixing pigments
2.Technicolor movies

AFTER-IMAGE
THE CONTINUED RESPONSE OF
CONES AND RODS AFTER THE
LIGHT STIMULUS IS REMOVED.
THE COLOR OF THE AFTER-IMAGE
IS THE COMPLIMENT OF THE
STIMULUS.

AFTER IMAGE

SUMMARY
VISIBLE SPECTRUM
ROYGBIV

COLOR VISION
CONES AND RODS

BLACK AND WHITE

THESE ARE RELATIVE TERMS

COLOR ADDITION
COLOR TV, STAGE LIGHTING

COLOR SUBTRACTION
MIXING PIGMENTS, MOVIES IN COLOR

COMPLIMENTARY COLORS
AFTER IMAGE