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Chemistry and Physics - What Are The Colors In Light?
What are the colors in light?
Color is determined by the wavelength of light. (Wavelength is the distance between the crest of one light wave and the crest of next.) Those colors that blend to form "white light" (or "visible light") are, from longest wavelength to shortest wavelength: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This spectrum of colors can be seen when a light beam is shone through a prism. Within the spectrum, scientists have discovered 55 distinct hues (shades). Infrared radiation, which is longer than red light, and ultraviolet radiation, which is shorter than violet light, are both invisible to the human eye.
Sources: Famighetti, Robert, ed. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1995, p. 563; Field, Gary C. Color and Its Reproduction, pp. 8-9.
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