Reflection of light?

Question

All you brainiacs out there, if light reflects off an object... then waht color is the object itself?

If white light contains all the colors of the visible spectrum, and say, it reflects off of an object that is red, the object itself absorbs all the colors of the spectrum except red. So then is that object in fact red? or is it every other color except red?

What about a 'black' light? if the color black lacks all colors, why then when you shine a black light on an object, it appears as it's 'negative' color, such as reds or yellows appear green. Not all colors but many colors exhibit this phenomenon. An object that is "white' in color glows almost flourscent in black light...

What is it exactly are we seeing when we see the 'color' of an object?

I am looking for your thoughts, not something you cut and paste out of a website or quote from a book.

Answer 1

This is something i often wonder about too. The color we are seeing is infact the light being reflected off the object as well as the reception of our rod and cone cells in the retina of the eye. The cone cells are the ones that respond to different colors. There are groups of cone cells that respond to red, or blue or yellow so basically what we 'percieve' as color depends on both thse factors. And really, perception is on an individual basis. Theoretically, what You percieve as red, i may percieve as blue. It is very much possible. Colors, i think are an illusion that we create with our brains. They are just that. They themselves have no 'color'. Its like our brain recieves this upside down weird black and white photo, and puts it upright, colors it up to make it attractive. And that is what we see as 'beautiful' and colorfull.
As for reality...that, we may never know.

Answer 2

When an object reflects preferentially in the red part of the spectrum, it is called "red" by convention. The same is true of other colors as well.

Black light is not really black. It is ultraviolet, invisible to the eye. A number of common substances phosphoresce when hit by UV light, absorbing the UV photons and emitting photons of a lower wavelength. That's why these substances glow different colors than they appear in visible light.

Again by convention, color refers to the wavelength of light preferentially reflected or emitted by the object. It's not surprising that the same object might have different colors under different conditions.

Answer 3

You don't want the accurate answer. You want a "touchy-feely" answer.

You play semantic games. What is it worth to me to give you an answer when you seem to already know the answer, or will not be satisfied by any answer.

Lose the attitude, pitiful intellectual parasite.