Recalll that light is a combination of all the colors in the rainbow yet if you mix...?

Question

all the colors (witha crayola crayon) you get black or dark brown and not a light whiteish color?

Answer 1

When you mix ink, or crayons for that matter, you are subtracting color, not adding color.

Brown is actually yellow, or a yellowish color, at a very low intensity.

Answer 2

Hi. White light is an equal mix of the three primary colors. Crayons are only an approximation. If you put the three on a disk and spun the disk fast enough you would see a much closer to white color (probably a light gray). Take a close look at your monitor screen and you'll see that the 'white' is actually a combination of the three.

Answer 3

You see colors in light by what colors are emitted. You see the colors of objects by what colors are absorbed. (Red crayons are red because they absorb blue and green) So you get different results from mixing paint or crayons than you do from mixing light.
The three primary light colors are red, green and blue. Paint is red, yellow and blue. Kinda confusing, but once you get the difference in the nature of colors between light and objects reflecting light you can figure it out.