The electromagnetic radiation in the range of the visible spectrum(the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye) is what we know as LIGHT.
When refracted through a prism, light is divided into a spectrum of colors - resulting 7 spectrum colors or, the rainbow!
100nmUltraviolet wavelength380nm
Violet
380-450Nm
668-789THz
2.75–3.26eV
With the shortest wavelength(380-450Nm) of all the visible colors, Violet is at the end of the spectrum of visible light, between blue and the invisible ultraviolet.
Fun Facts
The colors violet and purple are often associated with luxury. Certain luxury goods, such as watches and jewelry, are often placed in boxes lined with violet velvet, since violet is the complementary color of yellow, and shows gold to best advantage.
Because of its proximity to UV light, Violet light has applications in health, beauty and medicine.
In the traditional color wheel used by painters, violet and purple lie between red and blue. Violet is inclined toward blue, while purple is inclined toward red.
380nmwavelength450nm
Blue
450–485Nm
620–680THz
2.64–2.75eV
Blue is the colour of light between violet and green on the visible spectrum. Human eyes perceive blue when observing light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 450–485 nanometres.
In painting and traditional colour theory, blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments (red, yellow, blue), which can be mixed to form a wide gamut of colours.
Fun Facts
Blue had first become the high fashion colour of the wealthy and powerful in Europe in the 13th century, when it was worn by Louis IX of France. Wearing blue implied dignity and wealth, and blue clothing was restricted to the nobility.
Blue is commonly used in the Western Hemisphere to symbolise boys, in contrast to pink used for girls. In the early 1900s, blue was the colour for girls, since it had traditionally been the colour of the Virgin Mary in Western Art, while pink was for boys (as it was akin to the colour red, considered a masculine colour)
In Britain, a bride in a wedding is encouraged to wear "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," as a sign of loyalty and faithfulness.
450nmwavelength485nm
Cyan
485–500Nm
600–620THz
2.48–2.52eV
Cyan sits right between the wavelengths of green and blue.
In the CMYK color system, cyan is one of the primary colors, along with magenta, yellow, and black.
Fun Facts
Surgeons and nurses often wear gowns colored cyan, and operating rooms are often painted that color, because it is the complement of red and thus reduces the emotional response to blood red that occurs when doing surgery on internal organs.
Cyan is the color of shallow water over a sandy beach. The water absorbs the color red from the sunlight, leaving a greenish-blue color.
The planet Uranus is colored cyan because of the abundance of methane in its atmosphere. Methane absorbs red light and reflects the blue-green light which allows observers to see it as cyan.
485nmwavelength500nm
Green
500–565Nm
530–600THz
2.25–2.34eV
Green is the color between blue and yellow on the visible spectrum.
By far the largest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll, the chemical by which plants photosynthesize and convert sunlight into chemical energy.
Fun Facts
During post-classical and early modern Europe, green was the color commonly associated with wealth, merchants, bankers and the gentry.
Green is also the color most commonly associated with nature, life, health, youth, spring, hope and envy.
The green costume of the Mona Lisa shows she was from the gentry, not from the nobility.
The Chicago River is dyed green every year to mark St. Patrick's Day.
500nmwavelength565nm
Yellow
565–590Nm
510–530THz
2.10–2.17eV
Sitting between orange and green on the spectrum of visible light, Yellow is a primary color in subtractive(CMYK) color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the RGB color model, used to create colors on television and computer screens, yellow is a secondary color made by combining red and green at equal intensity.
Traditionally, the complementary color of yellow is purple.
Fun Facts
Yellow, in the form of yellow ochre pigment made from clay, was one of the first colors used in prehistoric cave art. The cave of Lascaux has an image of a horse colored with yellow estimated to be 17,300 years old.
In the west, Yellow is the color of ambivalence and contradiction; the color associated with optimism and amusement; but also with betrayal, duplicity, and jealousy. But in China and other parts of Asia, yellow is a color of virtue and nobility.
Yellow is the most visible color from a distance, so it is often used for objects that need to be seen, such as fire engines, road maintenance equipment, school buses and taxicabs.
565nmwavelength590nm
Orange
590–625Nm
480–510THz
2.00–2.10eV
Orange is the colour between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light. Human eyes perceive orange when observing light with a dominant wavelength between roughly 590 and 625nm.
The orange colour of carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, oranges, and many other fruits and vegetables comes from carotenes, a type of photosynthetic pigment. These pigments convert the light energy that the plants absorb from the sun into chemical energy for the plants' growth.
Fun Facts
In Europe and America, surveys show that orange is the colour most associated with amusement, the unconventional, extroverts, warmth, fire, energy, activity, danger, taste and aroma.
The colour orange derives its name from the orange fruit. The actual complement of orange is azure – a colour that is one quarter of the way between blue and green on the colour spectrum.
Because of its high visibility, during the Second World War, US Navy pilots in the Pacific began to wear orange inflatable life jackets, which could be spotted by search and rescue planes.
590nmwavelength625nm
Red
625–740Nm
405–480THz
1.65–2.00eV
Red is the color at the end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and the CMYK color model, and is the complementary color of cyan.
In the language of optics, red is the color evoked by light that stimulates neither the S or the M (short and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina, combined with a fading stimulation of the L (long-wavelength) cone cells.
Fun Facts
Primates can distinguish the full range of the colors of the spectrum visible to humans, but many kinds of mammals, such as dogs and cattle, have dichromacy, which means they can see blues and yellows, but cannot distinguish red and green (both are seen as gray). Bulls, for instance, cannot see the red color of the cape of a bullfighter, but they are agitated by its movement.
Red light is used to help adapt night vision in low-light or night time, as the rod cells in the human eye are not sensitive to red.
Red is the traditional color of warning and danger. In the Middle Ages, a red flag announced that the defenders of a town or castle would fight to defend it, and a red flag hoisted by a warship meant they would show no mercy to their enemy.
625nmwavelength740nm
Infrared Radiation(IR)
740-1000Nm
480THz - 300Ghz
1.7eV – 1.24meV
Infrared radiation (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with longer wavelengths than those of visible light, and is therefore generally invisible to the human eye.
In the language of optics, red is the color evoked by light that stimulates neither the S or the M (short and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina, combined with a fading stimulation of the L (long-wavelength) cone cells.
Fun Facts
Slightly more than half of the total energy from the Sun was eventually found to arrive on Earth in the form of infrared. The balance between absorbed and emitted infrared radiation has a critical effect on Earth's climate.
Infrared radiation is used in industrial, scientific, military, law enforcement, and medical applications. Night-vision devices using active near-infrared illumination allow people or animals to be observed without the observer being detected.
Infrared radiation can be used as a deliberate heating source. For example, it is used in infrared saunas to heat the occupants. It may also be used in other heating applications, such as to remove ice from the wings of aircraft (de-icing).
740nmwavelength1000nm
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