1.

The blind spot of the human eye results

from
a) rods attached to the retina.
b) cones attached to the fovea.
c) a detached retina.
d) the optic nerve attached to the retina.
e) color blindness.
2. Some minerals absorb ultraviolet light and
then release lower energy visible light.
This process is called
a) fluorescence.
b) atomic resonance.
c) incandescence.
d) phosphorescence.
 Fluorescent Lamps
• Primary excitation - electron collisions with
low pressure mercury vapor, and ultraviolet
light is given off

• Secondary excitation - ultraviolet light is

absorbed by phosphors and these emit
visible light
 Phosphorescence
• Phosphorescence - a type of light emission that
is the same as fluorescence except for a delay
between excitation and de-excitation.

• Electrons get "stuck" in an excited state and de-

excite gradually.

• Demos - glow-in-the-dark objects

 Lasers
• Laser
– Light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation
• Lasers produce coherent light.
• Coherent light means that all the light waves
have the frequency, phase and direction.
• Demo - Laser and chalk dust
• Demo - Laser and prism or diffraction grating
 Matching Questions
1. Incandescence a. mercury vapor
light tubes

2. Fluorescence b. glow-in-the-dark
paints and plastics

3. Phosphorescence c. light bulbs

with filaments
 Matching Questions
1. Fluorescent Lamp a. color changes
with temperature
2. Incandescent Bulb b. only one color
of light

3. Laser c. converts ultraviolet light to

visible light
Chapter 27
Color
 Color
• Different wavelengths of light are perceived
as different colors.

• Pure Colors: ROY G. BIV

• White light contains equal amounts of these

colors. (ROY G. BIV)
 Selective Reflection and
Transmission
• At an interface, light can be...
• absorbed
• reflected
• transmitted
 Fill in the Blanks
• Black objects _______
absorb all of the pure
colors.

• White objects _______

reflect all of the pure
colors.

• Transparent objects _______

transmit all of the pure
colors.
 Color Filters
• Red filters transmit red light and absorb the other
colors, etc.

• Red objects reflect red light and absorb the rest, etc.

• In red light, what color do the red petals and green

leaves of rose appear?
– Answer: Petal appear _____, leaves appear to be _____.
 Mixing Colored Light
Color Addition
• Additive Primary Colors:
• Red
• Green
• Blue
• One can produce any color by varying
amplitude and mixture or red, green and
blue light.
• Color Addition Example:
– Tiny dots called pixels on Color TV's and
Computer Monitors are colored only red,
green, or blue.
 Mixing Colored Pigments -
Color Subtraction
• Subtractive Primary Colors:
• Yellow
• Magenta
• Cyan

• One can produce any color by varying the

amount of yellow, magenta and cyan pigments.
• Color Subtraction Example:
– Newspapers and the new zip-lock
sandwich bags use color subtraction.
Primary Colors
White

Red

Green

Blue

Yellow

Cyan

Magenta
 Color Addition
Pure Green Primary Green

Green
 Why is the sky blue?

• Nitrogen and Oxygen in our atmosphere

scatter high frequencies of light.
 Why are sunsets red?
• Red light is scattered the least by our
atmosphere.

• The greatest path of sunlight through the

atmosphere is at sunset or sunrise.
 Why are clouds white?
• The color of light scattered by clusters of water
molecules vary with the size of the clusters.

• The size of clusters of water molecules (droplets)

vary in clouds.
 Why is the ocean
greenish blue?
• Red light is absorbed by the molecules in
the water.
 Color Vision
• Colorblindness - about 10% of population
• Red-green is predominant
• Yellow-blue - a few
• Total - some
• Complementary Colors - any two colors
that add together to produce white
• e.g. magenta + green = white
Optical Illusions

Animation
 After Images and “Conal Fatigue”
• The human eye will see complimentary colors
after staring at a color picture.
• Demos:
• Colored Shapes
• Texas Flag
• American Flag
• Rose
• Lincoln
 In-Class Exercise
1. Make a list of the seven forms of light in order of
decreasing wavelength.

2. Draw a Color Addition Diagram using

overlapping colored spotlights. Label all 7
colors.

3. Draw a Color Subtraction Diagram using

overlapping paints. Label all 7 colors.
 Question
1. If you look at the yellow Sun just before
sunset for a few seconds and then look at a
white cloud you see _______ afterimages of the
Sun.
a) red
b) green
c) blue
d) cyan
 Question
2. A mixture of cyan and yellow paints gives
__________ paint.
a) green
b) red
c) black
d) white
e) blue
 Question
3. Adding red and green light gives us what
color?
a) yellow
b) cyan
c) blue
d) magenta
 From the Online Exam
21. Suppose that two flashlight beams are shone on a
white screen, one through a pane of blue glass and the
other through a pane of green glass. What color
appears on the screen where the two beams overlap?
a) yellow
b) green
c) cyan
d) magenta
e) red
23. If a car headlight emitted only yellow light,
the normally green grass appears to be
a) green.
b) red.
c) black.
d) white.
e) yellow.
24. To see an after image of a red, white and
blue Texas flag one would first stare at a
flag with the complimentary colors
a) yellow, violet, and green.
b) cyan, yellow, and magenta.
c) cyan, black, and yellow.
d) yellow, cyan and green.
25. The worst thing that you can do for the health
of a green-leafed plant is to illuminate it with
only
a) red light.
b) green light.
c) blue light.
d) all are equally bad.
e) none of these.
Most of the light that we see has
undergone
(a) selective interference
(b) selective transmission
(c) selective reflection
(d) selective refraction
A mixture of magenta and green
lights give white light. These two
colors are
(a) additive primaries
(b) secondary colors
(c) complementary colors
(d) fluorescent colors
(e) interference colors
Mixing yellow paint and magenta
paint gives what color?
(a) red
(b) green
(c) blue
(d) cyan
What color would red cloth
appear if it were illuminated by
cyan light?
(a) cyan
(b) red
(c) yellow
(d) green
(e) black
End of Chapter 27
• Glow in the Dark Skeleton
• Black Light
• Laser & Diffraction Grating
• Color Filters and Color Papers