PHYS 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Spectral Color, Additive Color, Photon
Document Summary
Spectral colors: they are pure, monochromatic (single frequency) colors observed in the rainbow from a prism. A certain shade (hue) of yellow: this is a monochromatic yellow with a wavelength of 580 nm. Non- spectral colors are reflected mixtures, the result of combinations of photons by selective reflection or transmission that produce various color mixtures such as magenta, brown, silver, gold, or pastel colors. Spectral colors and color mixtures: so far, we have been assigning a single pure (monochromatic) color to each wavelength. However, the vast majority of colors we see actually correspond to a mix of spectral colors. The color we see also depends on how much white is added (e. g. red, becomes pink when white is mixed with red) We can perceive any more colors than there are in the rainbow. There are three primary monochromatic colors: red, blue, green, all equals white.