COLOR & LIGHT – the VISABLE SPECTRUM

Red          Orange        Yellow         Green          Blue          Violet

780-658     658-600     600-567       567-524      502-431      431-390  nanometers

long wavelengths                                                                 short wavelengths

electromagnetic waves/rays are measured in nanometers

different WAVELENGTHS  =  different COLORS

19^th C  - Sir Isaac Newton and the PRISM

light is broken into LINEAR distinctions (rainbow)

the COLOR WHEEL connects both end of the spectrum and make color relationships more accessible

*   we usually see REFLECTED light

*   differences in physical or chemical composition determine what wavelengths a surface will absorb and reflect

* we can manipulate this reflected light through the use of pigments

* QUALITY of LIGHT also effects how we see color