COLOR

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

VIDEO
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 Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet Increasing Frequency Decreasing Wavelength

Remember Roy G. Biv

COLOR SENSORS
CONES SENSITIVE TO COLOR
THE PRODUCE THE SENSATION OF COLOR

RODS SENSITIVE TO LIGHT

RESPOND TO LIGHT, BUT PRODUCE NO COLOR SENSATION

COLOR RESPONSE OF CONES

THRESHOLD OF COLOR
THE INTENSITY OF LIGHT BELOW WHICH NO COLOR IS SEEN.
IT IS A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT RODS (LIGHT SENSORS) ARE MORE SENSITIVE THAN CONES (COLOR SENSORS).

COLOR BLINDNESS
THE DISTORTION OF COLOR PERCEPTION DUE TO REDUCED RESPONSE OF THE CONES. IT IS NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE REDUCED RESPONSE BY ONE TYPE OF CONE. (USUALLY GREEN CONES IN MALES)
COLOR VISION TEST (online)

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

THE COLOR WHITE

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

BLACK
THE ABSENSE OF LIGHT

VIDEO
THIS VIDEO SHOWS THAT AN OBJECT WITH A CHARACTERISTIC COLOR MAY APPEAR BLACK IF IT APPEARS MUCH DARKER THAT 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 AFTERIMAGE 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