if white is all the colors and black is all the colors, why are they not the same?

Answer 1

I see no answers from anyone who actually understands how color perception works!

That is not unusual, because most of the training in the use of colors that people receive is during an art class, and unfortunately most art teachers were taught false information to begin with.

First of all, color is a human perception that is based on the relative stimulation of red, green, and blue sensors in your eyes. If all three sets of sensors are stimulated equally, then you will perceive "white". It doesn't matter if you are looking at a light source with all visible wavelengths present, at a light source with only narrow red, green, and blue wavelengths, or at a light source with narrow bands of blue and yellow wavelengths. You will perceive any of those as white. All of the "in-between" colors like cyan, yellow, orange, etc. work by stimulating combinations of your red, green, and blue sensors. You can create every perceptible color using variable amounts of red, green, and blue light. So much for light sources.

Anything painted, printed, dyed, etc. contains pigments that selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light. For example, an object that looks red under a white light will absorb all of the other wavelengths from orange to violet. Only your red sensors will be stimulated. An object that looks blue will absorb all the other colors (red to green, and violet), so only your blue sensors will be stimulated. If you mix a narrow band red pigment with a narrow band blue pigment, all wavelengths of light will be absorbed and you will see black. Since pigments work by absorbing light, there are three primary pigment colors: Cyan, magenta, and yellow. Printers use those three colors of ink to make every perceptible color, because each one of them corresponds to one of the primary light colors that will be absorbed: Cyan pigment absorbs red light, magenta pigment absorbs green light, and yellow pigment absorbs blue light. In the past, art students were taught the three primary colors were red, blue, and yellow, but they just could not make certain paint colors starting with only those three! Now some art schools are teaching the truth: You can mix any color paint from the cyan, magenta, and yellow primary pigment colors.

Answer 2

White is all the colors Reflected, the Black Is all the colors Absorbed. Hope This Helps.

Answer 3

White is every color in the visible spectrum.

Black is the absence of all color in the visible spectrum.

In other words: when light hits something white, all of the colors bounce off of it and you see all the colors put together when you look at it. And all of the colors put together equal white. But when light hits something black, it absorbs all of the color and reflects only light, and no color at all. The light that is absorbed into the black object is turned into heat. That's why if you leave something black colored in the sun it gets hotter than something white would. The same thing with any other color. With something red, it absorbs all of the colors in the rainbow except the color red. The red bounces off of the object and enters your eyes when you look at it.

So black and white are opposites.

Have a good day! =)

Answer 4

You're really talking about two completely different systems of colors.

In the additive system (usually dealing with lights here), where you add one color to the other, white is result of all the colors combined.

Oppositely, in the subtractive system (dealing with pigments), where when you add colors your really subtracting what colors they reflect, then black is the result of all the colors combined.

You see their on the same spectrum with black and white being at opposite ends... its just how you're working with the colors.

Answer 5

Because black and white are NOT all the colors ;-)

Colors develop an energy wave. This energy wave allows us to perceive the color. Black and white's energy wave contain the frequencies of all other colors but do not develop the same frequency themselves. That's why they are all colors but different.

Hope that helps even though I am not sure I have been very clear ;-)

Answer 6

because u dont actually see the colors black is, u see the colors it isnt, it absorbs the spectrum of all light, but white reflects it all and u see all the colors at once.hope this helps, u can say thank u with 10 points lol.

Answer 7

With light, white is created from the combination of all colors. With pigments, black is created from the combination of all colors. When white light hits a black surface, all light enters the surface, nothing is reflected and so you seea black surface.

Answer 8

White is all of the colors of the spectrum put together. Black is the absense of color. Start from white and subtract every color in the spectrum.

Answer 9

its not really accurate to say that white and black are all the colors. it depends on what you are talking about as far as colors go, but if you were to oversimplify it, you could say white means all the light hitting something is being relected off and reaches your eyes. however, something that is black is absorbing all the light that is hitting it, so none of the light is reflected and reaching your eyes.

Answer 10

In pigment black is all colors combined. In light white is all colors combined.