Light wave properties

Our eyes are sensitive to THREE colors of light

Red

Blue 

Green 

Every “color” we see is some mixture of these three

WHITE is all of these colors being reflected off a surface

BLACK is no color being reflected off a surface

The ANTI COLORS are mixture of TWO of these primary colors 

MAGENTA is a mixture of RED and BLUE making it the opposite color of GREEN 

YELLOW is a mixture of RED and GREEN and is the opposite of of BLUE
CYAN is a mixture of GREEN and BLUE and is the opposite of RED 

(see color wheel in dochub) 

Every color of light is either REFLECTED or ABSORBED by a substance

We only see the colors that are REFLECTED they are the colors of light that

enter our eyes and form an image. 

Each color is a certain WAVELENGTH of light the visible colors range from 400 to 700 nm 

Violet (purple) is the shortest wavelength and most energetic visible light

Red is the longest wavelength and least energetic visible light

Light of shorter wavelength than violet is ULTRAVIOLET

Light of longer wavelength than red is INFRARED

Concave lenses bend inward Convex lenses bend outward

Concave lenses shrink, Convex lenses magnify and FLIP images (if they are more than a focal length away)

Concave spreads light out Convex focuses light in at a point (focus)

Color runs from Violet Blue Green Yellow Red with Violet being the shortest wavelength and red being the longest

Four behaviors of light REFLECTION (bouncing back) REFRACTION (bending) TRANSMISSION (passing through) ABSORPTION (turned into heat) 

RAINBOWS are created by light transmitting into a water droplet then refracting into separate colors as it enters the droplet then Reflecting back to the viewer as it passes out into the air.

Transparent objects are only distinguishable from each other because they REFRACT light

differently, the only way to see the difference between glass and air is their different refraction

when objects refract light the same they are indistinguishable from each other (glass and oil) 

We see a gas as being the colors of light that it SCATTERS not the ones it ABSORBS