If we have so many more rods than cones in our eyes, why do we see better in more light?

Question

Since there are more rods than cones, you would think we would be able to see better at night, because rods respond to dim light. But this is not true....please explain why! thanks.

Answer 1

Because there's more light during the day.

We see light - the more light - the better we see.

I imagine that even rods see better during the day than at night.

Answer 2

Rods respond to light not just dim light. There does not need to be dim light for rods to respond otherwise you would be correct and we would have to wait for the lights to be dim just to see. Rods happen to be very sensitive to light which gives us the ability to see in the dim light. In comparison cones are not sensitive to light, which means in dim light cones become more useless...which means the dimmer the light the worse your perception of color will be. Try telling the diffence in colors when the lights are near off.