Human Visibility

Firstly, the trichromatic theory explains that there are three types of cones red, green, and blue. Ciccarelli states “Cones are special receptor cells that respond to the various wavelengths of light” (Sandra Ciccarelli 96). Now of the three cones, different shades of color correspond to different amounts of light received by them. The cones then send their

This explains why in low lights, such as moonlight, everything appears gray. As Rainwater said “By definition, color includes all aspects of light except variations in time and space.” (98) So color and light go hand in hand with each other “The color you see depends on the intensity and wavelengths of the light that illuminates the object, on the wavelengths of light reflected or transmitted by the object, on the color of the surrounding objects, and on absorption or reflection by substances in the light path” (Rainwater 99) Hue, saturation and brightness refer to the aspects of color. “Hue is the color sensation by which you distinguish the different parts of the spectrum- red, blue, green, yellow, etc.” (Rainwater 101) Saturation appears as the degree of hue in a color. “It is the color sensation by which you distinguish a hue as being pale or rich, weak or strong.” (Rainwater 102) Another one, brightness “Brightness is the primary visual sensation by which you detect the presence of light. It is associated with the quantity of the light and the intensity of the visual sensation.” (Rainwater 103) These refer to just some of the terms associated with color and the human

Humans have three cone cells that are extremely sensitive to Red, (620-700nm), Green (490-570nm) and Blue (450-495nm) wavelengths of light. Although these three cones are most sensitive to these wavelengths, they are still sensitive to the remaining wavelengths of visible light between 400-700nm. When a light with a wavelength of 600nm is transmitted through the retina, the Red and Green cones capture, sense and signal the brain that orange light is observed. In this case the Red and Green cones absorb light but the Green cones are less sensitive. Also, the Blue cones don’t absorb much light and are not sensitive

For example, if a solution absorbs a wavelength of 652 nm it would mean that the color of the solution was green. The color absorbed is the complementary color to what is visible, meaning the solution absorbed red light, but was visible as red’s complementary color, green. The results of the experiment show this phenomenon. Yellow 5 food dye has a wavelength of maximum absorbance of 426 nm, meaning the dye absorbs violet light, which has a wavelength range of 400-450 nm. The solution absorbs violet light, but transmits violets complimentary color, yellow, to be

When the photon’s wavelength is between 400 nm and 700 nm, the electromagnetic radiation is visible light. Since each element has its own unique electron configuration when an excited atom experiences changes in its electrons between energy levels, each element has its own distinct line spectrum. The colors of the lines indicate the color of the visible light when the energy difference between two levels is emitted as a photon of electromagnetic radiation. When an atom is excited, it produces the specific colored lines in its spectrum due to the electron jumping or falling between different energy levels.

The color violet and red are some examples of wavelengths are violet which has short wavelength, and red has longer wavelengths. White is the most effective as it is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow. Additionally, chlorophyll is the pigment which is key in the process of photosynthesis. Chlorophyll absorbs all the different colored wavelengths, but leaves green as the colour it reflects and as the colour we

An abbreviated explanation of the definition of color from the Concise Oxford Dictionary explains that color results from various wavelengths viewed by the eyes similar to the effects of gazing through a prism (“Definition”). These wavelengths denote different colors perceived by the human eye and are part of the visible light spectrum which ranges from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet (“Visible Light”). While not actually perceived, the color indigo completes the ROYGBIV acronym so often associated with the spectrum. White and black are not technically colors due to the fact that they are not wavelengths on the visible light spectrum; however, when all the colors are present, white becomes visible. Conversely, when none of the colors are present, black becomes detectable (“Electromagnetic and Visible Spectra”). To prove the existence of colors, people only need to visualize this explanation by recreating Sir Isaac Newton’s experiment which he performed in 1622 by shining a light through a prism and observing a rainbow of colors (“Definition”). Yet, more simply stated, each day individuals witness this phenomena and see the colors of objects because it is “the color of the light reflected” from visible light waves, such as a light bulb or the sun shining on the object (“Visible Light Waves”). Given the fact that the human eye can see color, people may contemplate whether various colors have an impact on their

Light passes through the pupil and goes to the retina where rods and cones process the image and send it through the optic nerve to the brain. In order from the front to the back of the eye the conjunctiva is the first layer of the eye(Thompson, 2008).

They have a natural frequency, which they are more likely to vibrate. The electrons are set into vibrating motion when a light wave of the same natural frequency interacts with the atom (Classroom, 1996). Hence, this also applies to the object with electrons at the same vibrating frequency as the light wave (Anttu et al., 2014). During the vibration, the electrons and its neighbouring atoms interact to convert its vibrating energy into thermal energy. Then, the light wave of the specified frequency is absorbed by the object which is seldom going to be released as a form of light. The object itself does not contain the colour. Instead, it consists of atoms that are able to selectively absorb one or more frequencies of visible light which reflect on its surface (Ellis, 2005). For example; the object will become visible green in the presence of white light (ROYGBIV - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet) when it absorbs all the frequencies of visible light excluding the frequency related with green light (Classroom, 1996). Hence, all of the vegetation in the photograph is visible in green by allowing the frequency of light to be selectively absorbed into the object and create vibration with the electrons except for the frequency associated with green light. This visualises the vegetations to be the colour it is commonly known to be.

Different wavelengths will be emitted as an electron returns to ground state based on its transition. The higher energy the electron falls from the higher energy the wavelength will be. This as stated is known as the atomic emission spectra, and each atomic emission spectra is unique to the specific element and acts as a sort of fingerprint. A spectrum categorizes wavelengths based upon the respective energy ;levels. The highest energy or shorter wavelengths are on the left while the right holds the lowest energy or longest wavelengths. Based on this, the energy difference of an electrons fall from excited to ground is what determines the wavelength of light. A fall from the outermost shell to the innermost would result in an emission of high energy wavelength such as gamma or uv rays, while a relatively low fall will result in low energy wavelengths such as radio waves. The emission spectra helps identify

During our first experiment we used blue, yellow and a mixture of blue and yellow to find their transmission using different wavelengths. The blue peaked at 630 nm, the yellow peaked at 410-430 nm and the mixture (green) peaked at 630 nm. Results on Tables 1-3 and Graph 1. We had to find the peak wavelength of each dye to identify the color of the solution. By using the Spec 20 machine the color or the dye that is seen depends on the wavelengths of light to see the color that is reflected and the other colors that are absorbed [1]. By using a vision region colour wheel I can see that because the blue peaked at 630 nm the color absorbs red light. The yellow absorbed violet light and the mixture absorbed

Colors are emitted by the spectrum of light energy in everything around us. Even our flesh is the color it is due to the frequency of vibration we emit.

Since color is only perceived by the eyes and interpreted by the brain, the question of the existence of color arises. If not for the ability of receptors receiving reflected light, then how else does color exist? Furthermore, if everyone in the world was blind, then would blue still be blue? If the blue is still significant even without proper perception, then there must be some quality

In fact a rainbow is made up of the entire spectrum of colors from red to violet and beyond to the ultraviolet and infrared sections of the spectrum, which the eye is not capable of detecting.

With today’s science, light becomes more specifically perceived as a spectrum. The specific name for this spectrum is the electromagnetic spectrum, which contains many types of waves (NASA, Electromagnetic Spectrum). In Figure 2, the spectrum shows a variety of wavelengths with specific wavelengths classified by its length. The range of wavelengths humans can see wavelengths that are around 400 – 700 nanometers (nm) as colors while all other electromagnetic waves are simply blind to humans. The interesting classes for light that are used to measure are microwave and infrared light. The laser is