Understanding the Origin of Color & Light Reflections

In summary, the conversation is discussing the concept of colors and their relation to particles, light, and reflections. The person suggests that these questions could be answered in a high school physics class or by studying a textbook on optics. They also recommend knowing the person's educational background before providing a list of books to better understand the topic. Finally, the person explains that the brown color is a specific spectral distribution that hits the retina.
  • #1
heartless
220
2
Hello,
I'm wondering why do we have colors? If protons and neutrons are build upon the same particles shouldn't we have one single color? Else, if you put something transparent of for example red color under the beam of light, light will become of the color of the thing you put under, why is it? and how photons absorb color? Walking along the school hallway I just realized that the same light-line you see will be visible from every angle you look, meaning light reflects on the floor in every single place, but yet you see only one steady light beam again why does it happen? Also, why do reflections happen? reflections are just waves of light aren't they? can anyone provide an explanation of reflections?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
heartless,

Most your questions will be answered in a high school physics class when you get to optics. If you are impatient, I suggest you pick up a textbook (eg: Resnick & Halliday) from the library and study it yourself.

Someone could possibly answer all your questions one by one, but without an understanding of the fundamental underlying concepts, I'm afraid that any such knowledge gained will be quite shallow.

Of better use to you, in my opinion, will be a list of books that you could read to better understand optics. For this, we will need to know your current educational background -(i) What grade are you in?
(ii) What have you covered in physics so far?
(iii) What have you learned in math?
 
  • #3
I suppose here is the topic to ask what is the brown color?
 
  • #4
SizarieldoR said:
I suppose here is the topic to ask what is the brown color?
The brown color is the signal generated when any of a specific (though infinite) set of spectral distributions hits the retina. In a typical example of such a spectrum the ratio of intensities of Red:Green:Brown is about 4:2:1.
 

Related to Understanding the Origin of Color & Light Reflections

1. What is the origin of color?

Color is a visual perception that is created by the reflection of light off of objects. It is caused by the way light is absorbed and reflected by the surface of an object, which determines the color that our eyes see.

2. How does light influence color?

Light is the main factor that determines the color of an object. When white light (which contains all colors of the visible spectrum) hits an object, some colors are absorbed while others are reflected. The colors that are reflected are what we see as the color of the object.

3. What is the role of pigments in color creation?

Pigments are substances that selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. They are responsible for the color of objects such as paint, flowers, and animals. Depending on the pigments present, different colors can be created.

4. How do we perceive different shades of color?

The human eye has three types of color receptors: red, green, and blue. These receptors work together to create all the colors we see. When different combinations of these receptors are stimulated, our brain interprets it as a different shade of color.

5. Why do some objects change color under different lighting conditions?

Some objects may appear to change color under different lighting conditions because the light source may contain more or less of certain colors, causing the object to reflect different colors. Additionally, the type of light source can also affect how we perceive color, such as natural sunlight vs artificial fluorescent light.

Similar threads

Replies
8
Views
1K
  • Atomic and Condensed Matter
Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • Optics
Replies
7
Views
1K
Replies
28
Views
3K
Replies
12
Views
1K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
701
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
4
Views
1K
Back
Top