Appendix 3: Color

Primary Colored Lights By definition, a primary colored light cannot be split up into any components. These are pure Red, pure Blue and pure Green lights. Secondary Colored Lights When the Primary Colored lights are paired off so that they are both incident on the same spot on a white screen, we obtain the Secondary Colored lights. The following table indicates how to obtain the Secondary Colored lights. Primary Colored lights shone together on white screen Red + Green Red + Blue Green + Blue Resultant Secondary Colored light Yellow Magenta Cyan Complementary Colored Lights Complementary colors are pairs of colored lights which form a white resultant when added together on a white screen. It automatically follows that the stated pair comprises a primary and a secondary colored light. The appearance of objects when exposed to light A body will appear red if it can reflect red light incident on it. The natural oscillatory frequency of its molecules is the same as that of the electromagnetic waves carrying the energy associated with the red light. These waves thus boost the vibrations of the stated particles. Those molecules become highly energized. The excited molecules will subsequently emit the excess energy given to them as red light. For simplification, we call this continuous absorption-emission process reflection. In reality, it takes an extremely short time to happen. That time is real but negligible. Any other colored light incident on the red body will be downgraded into heat by the same molecules. This is because the vibrations of the incoming carrier-waves are out of synchrony with the natural vibrations that the molecules making up the receiving body can, by nature, execute. Some materials can reflect more than one primary colored light. This, once again, is determined by the nature of the molecules receiving the light. If a body is semi-transparent, refraction also tends to occur under the same rules. Such bodies are referred to as light filters. Only the light associated with vibrations that are in synchrony with the natural vibrations of the filters molecules is eventually allowed to pass through the material. The rest of the incident light is changed into heat by the filters molecules. The appearance of objects with mixed color pigments Paints are made of colored pigments. These pigments are basically groups of molecules with specific characteristics. As a comparative example, pure red paint is made up of pigments that can only reflect pure red light. Magenta paint (also known as compound red) looks like pure red paint. It can however reflect pure red and blue lights. Description of Secondary Colored lights appearance Self explanatory This looks dark red This looks bluish green

What happens when paints are mixed? The following tables will greatly help you in understanding why results obtained are as they are. Table 1: Table showing which primary lights can be reflected by colored paints Colored Light which stated paint can Light changed into heat by stated paint paint reflect Magenta (M) Magenta Pure red Pure blue Pure green Yellow (Y) Yellow Pure red Pure green Pure blue Cyan (Y) Cyan Pure green Pure blue Pure red Table 2: Table showing the appearance of paint mixtures under white light Component of white Colored of paints that are light that is reflected by Component lights changed into heat mixed in equal quantities both paints Green (by magenta Blue (by yellow Magenta + Yellow Red pigment) pigment) Green (by magenta Red (by cyan Magenta + Cyan Blue pigment) pigment) Red (by cyan Yellow + Cyan Green Blue (by yellow pigment) pigment) The mixture of magenta paint and yellow paint will thus appear red. (Actually, it appears orange, which is a shade of red). When magenta and cyan paints are mixed in equal quantities, the result is a type of blue paint (purple, actually). When yellow and cyan paints are mixed in equal quantities, the result is green paint. You might have been taught in primary school that when magenta, yellow and cyan paints are mixed in equal quantities, the result is black paint. The logic in Table 2 can be used to understand why this is so.