13.2 Light and Color We see color because white light strikes a surface and the color the surface is, is reflected back to your eye. All the other colors of the visible spectrum are absorbed.

Ex: A blue block is “blue” because the blue wavelengths of light reflect off of the block and the rest are absorbed.

Colored filters- filters are materials that are transparent but only allow certain wavelengths to pass through.

Seeing Color Light must enter the eye through the pupil and strike the retina. – The retina is made of two types of nerve cells Rods-sensitive to low light. Useful for seeing in dark situations Cones- responds to certain wavelengths of light. – Red – Green – Blue

Color blindness-Also known as Daltonism. When one or more sets of cone cells don’t work properly. – Red-green-(most common type) protanopia and deuteranopia – Blue-yellow- tritanopia – Total color blindness-grey scale

Mixing colors First, we have to identify what kind of color we’re talking about- light or pigment. – Pigment-paint, ink, dye, etc. When you were young, you were taught that the primary pigment colors were red, blue, and yellow. NOPE! – – R,B,Y make brown, not black. – Magenta, cyan, yellow make black, therefore, they are subtractive. No wavelengths are reflected back to your eyes. – These are the same colors in your printer cartridge.

Light-the colors that are reflected or projected to your eyes. – Red, blue, and green are the three primary colors of light. – –