If Black isn't a colour, what is it?

Answer 1

The lack of light reflecting back from an object (because it absorbs all the "colored" light energy) causes something to apear black. So black is generally considered a Lack of Color because the Energy Reflected back towards the eye is Zero. However from the point of view of the object itself it is the combination of all colors.

Answer 2

Black is either an absence of colour or a mixture of all colours. White is the same. The difference being that black is the abscence of light when talking about light. White is the abscence of colour when not talking about light. Black is a mixture of all colours and white is a combination of all light spectrum colours.

Answer 3

GOOD question!...as black is a pigment, that absorbs all colours,so what does it reflect? yet a piece of black cloth, does reflect light when lit, otherwise you woulnt see it! Black velvet, cause of its non shiny textur is used by photographers, to subdue bounces from stray flash light...natural light studios are bright white, to reflect available light, but modeling studios, for advertising shots of product, or people, using controlled flash, the walls are matt black to prevent bouncing. So it absorbes light, but you can see its black, so it cant absorb all light? What is the non coloured white light, it reflects? maybee just a much weaker, full spectrum white light! Pigments arnet colours, in the sense of the light apectrum, but uv (teethglow lamps) is often described as black light. If we all thought about questions like this, maybee we'd get origional scientific discoveries, instead of what happens, when we play with the "known" to different degrees.

Answer 4

Black is shadow. It is the absence of light. Colour is perceived based on the type of light that is reflected by an object's surface. For example, grass appears green because it absorbs red and blue wavelengths and reflects green wavelengths of light. When we look at grass, the green wavelengths that are reflected off of it hit our retinas (inside our eyes). Our eyes have receptors (called rods and cones) that are specially designed to respond to wavelengths of different colours. When reflected light hits our eyes, the receptors tell our brain the wavelength, which we perceive as colour. When there is no light, there is no colour. That is black.

Answer 5

It is little wonder our world if so messed up. Why they say black is a value, and the absents of all color is futile. If you mix every color together, you will not get white, the so called presents of all colors. This mixture will come closer to being black rather than white. I have mixed a lot of paint in my day and i mean true colors not off colors., and it blows this concept away. So it's like the old saying did you see what you thought you saw. Try mixing colors under a color corrected light and you will see my point.

Answer 6

Actually black is a colour, just one that abosrbs light very well, or perfect at its best

Since encyclopediads and dictionaries and people all call it a colour and only weird pedants dont, lets all just say its a colour

Answer 7

it is 'nothing', black in space is where the 'nothing' is - the colour is where things are.

White is all the colours. mixing in paint all colours will not make white but mixing coloured lights will make white light.

Colours are just light reflecting, black reflects no light.
Why do you think you can get red white green light etc but you never see a black light do you?

Answer 8

Black is the absense of all colours. White is the opposite - the presence of all colours.

Answer 9

Its the sum of all colours of the spectrum put together, so therefore cannot be a colour in its own right

Answer 10

Black isnt a colour where did u hear that from?