Colors
is mainly composed of wavelengths, with each being of a particular color. The colors visible by the human eyes result from specific wavelengths that are usually reflected in the eyes. The visible light is a small part located within the electromagnetic spectrum in which the human eyes can detect and are usually sensitive to. The visible light waves are consisted of many wavelengths, with each color depending on its wavelength. These different wavelengths have a range of between 700 nm with red being at the farthest end of the spectrum and violet at the other end of the spectrum at 400 nm (Sang, Liu & Umar, 2015). Therefore, red is the color with the longest wavelength with violet being the color with the shortest wavelength. When all the light waves are observed all together, white light is produced. The reason behind this is that white is made up of all the colors of the rainbow, as it contains all the light wavelengths, thus being termed as a polychromatic light. One major example is torchlight or sunlight. Laser lights, on the other hand, are monochromatic, as they can only produce one color (Sang, Liu & Umar, 2015).
Object Colors
Different objects appear in their different colors due to their ability to absorb specific colors, or the wavelengths, and transmit or reflect other colors. The colors that are seen by the human eyes are the transmitted or the reflected colors. As an example, a redshirt appears red since the dye molecules that are contained in the fabric absorb the light wavelengths from the blue or the violet spectrum end. The shirt, therefore, reflects the red light only, there becomes visible. If the same red shirt is shone onto a blue shirt, the shirt would rather appear as being black since the blue color would have been absorbed and no red light would have been reflected. For objects that appear as white, they reflect all colors while black objects absorb all colors while reflecting none as discussed by Crosignani, Daino, & Di Porto, (1976).
Color Detection
The ability to detect colors in the eyes is facilitated by the rods and cones, photoreceptors located in the retina. Cones help in color detection while rods help in seeing things in black. Cones, therefore, work in bright light. It is the main reason why things appear as being grey, and there is no ability to see colors in dim light. The human eye has three types of cones that have a sensitivity to short (S), medium (M), and long (L) light wavelengths in a visible spectrum (Lee & Yoo, 2002). These three color receptors help the brain to perceive retinal signals as different colors.
Color Mixing
Primary light colors are blue, green, and red. When these colors are mixed in different proportions, they enable in seeing all light colors. The computer and TV screens use this application in bringing out the colored pictures we view. For example, green and red lights are mixed to perceive a yellow image. In additive mixing, primary colors are used and when they are shone at once on a screen white color is seen. Another application is in the mixing of paint mixing. Each paint color absorbs some colors and reflects others. With the addition of specific colors, more colors are being absorbed with others being reflected. Incase all colors are mixed, all the light is absorbed and black is produced, as no light will be reflected the eyes