What are colors made of?

Question

What changes in the light structure that makes different colors? How are the photons different in blue light than green?

Answer 1

1. Electromagnetic radiation can be thought of as having waves similar to those we see in water. These waves have two basic characteristics - Amplitude (height) and wavelength (distance between crests). The wavelength of light determines how we perceive the light's color. Blue light has a shorter wavelength than green which, in turn, has a shorter wavelength than red.

2. When we look at objects, we are seeing reflected light. In this case, sunlight and other sources generate light across a wide band of wavelength. However, the materials they hit selectively absorb and reflect specific wavelengths of light. The reflected wavelengths are the ones we see and interpret as color.

Answer 2

The photons in blue and green light, or x-rays, microwaves or gamma rays, are all the same except for the energy they carry. This is the view of light as a particle. If we look at light as a wave, then the only difference between different light is the wavelength. High-energy waves have high frequencies, and thus small wavelengths. Conversely, low-energy waves have low frequencies and large wavelengths.

As for Sarah's comment, light of different colors does not require a different number of photons. A single photon, like a single electron, can do the job by itself.

Answer 3

different colors have different wavelengths. blue light has a shorter wavelength than green light. Wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional so blue light has a higher frequency than green light. Energy and frequency are directly proportional so blue light has more energy than green light. Photons are packets of energy...therefore....BLUE LIGHT HAS MORE PHOTONS THAN GREEN LIGHT, keep in mind that the photons themselves are the same just the quantity differs and that's why we have different colors. So changes in energy and consequently the wavelength are the cause of different colors.

Happy Holidays !

Answer 4

colors are created by light bouncing off an object. all light starts out as white light from the sun - this contains all colors. when this light hits an object some of it is absorbed. the light that is not absorbed is bouced back and when it is interpreted by the human eye there appears to be color. the photons in blue light and green light are not different, there are just more of them being absorbed by the surface/object.

Answer 5

A color is defined as a range of wavelengths. Light with a wavelength of 565–590 nanometers is yellow, for example, though light with both red frequencies and green frequencies, such as mixing orange and lime light, or red and green light, is also percieved as yellow.

Answer 6

Different colours of light have different wavelengths.
From long wavelengths to shorter ones we have.....
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Answer 7

Colour are a result of light; we can see what we see and distiguish something from another because of light. The rays of light strikes object are reflected back to you. Basically there are three colours Blue, yellow and red.

Answer 8

The frequency of the radiation of the photons.

Answer 9

Color is the reaction of our brain to the frequencys of light that fall on the retina in our eyes

Answer 10

white light