How Do We Perceive the Colors in a Rainbow Scientifically?

As early as 1672, Sir Isaac Newton made the discovery that ordinary white light, such as sunlight, is actually a full spectrum of rainbow colors across multiple wavelengths. In fact, white or "pure light" contains every color. Knowing the light contains all colors, the fact that our ability to perceive colors begins with light should come as no surprise. When white light shines on an object, the object absorbs the wavelengths of color that don't match the object's surface color and then reflect the color that does match. It is this reflection that our eyes receive and our brains decode.

Things You'll Need

  • Flashlight
  • Orange
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Instructions

    • 1

      Shine the flashlight on an orange in a darkened room. The white light of the flashlight contains all colors and most of these colors will be absorbed and nullified by the orange. Some of the red and yellow wavelengths in the white light will reflect off the surface of the orange.

    • 2

      Focus your eyes on the orange. The red and yellow wavelengths of light will enter your eyes at the fovea, the very center of the retina, through the high concentration of photoreceptors there which are called cones. Cones are responsible for seeing color. Your brain will receive the message that the fruit on the table is orange in color from the mixture of red and yellow wavelengths sent by the cones to the brain.

    • 3

      Turn off the flashlight and turn away from the orange so that it can only be seen in your peripheral vision. If the room is dark enough, you will notice an interesting phenomena. The orange will appear to have been bled of color. This occurs for two reasons: Because cones need light to perceive color, and furthermore, because our peripheral vision is handled by rods, the second type of photoreceptor in our eye, which only see in black and white.

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