image:Wikipedia
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These seven colors make up the category of Visible Light, which is a very small portion of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
Visible Light has a great impact on our day to day lives, and also has a lot of science behind it.
The frequency range for the Visible Light spectrum is 400-790 terahertz, and it has a wavelength range of 400-700 nanometers. But how do we actually see color? The human eye will see a color depending on the wavelength of that certain color. The shortest wavelength of the Visible Light spectrum belongs to violet, while the longest wavelength belongs to the color red. The eye actually recognizes the color with the help of its cone cells. An object will appear a certain color(for example blue) due to the fact that it has actually taken in all the colors of the Visible Light spectrum, except for the color that it actually reflects to be(blue). In other words, an object will appear a color because it absorbs all the colors but one, which is the color you see it to be. White light is seen when red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet are all together. When mixing colors in the Visible Light spectrum, you are actually adding color, not taking it away. White light can also be fragmented by use of a prism or even a drop of water.
Image:Wikipedia
Although this area of the Electromagnetic Spectrum has a lot to do with science, it also affects our day to day life. How often do you see colors throughout the day? All the time. Color is everywhere. Without it, our lives would be pretty plain and boring! There are a lot of interesting phenomena that relate to the Visible Light Spectrum, and you may be able to experience one one day. An example of an interesting phenomena regarding the color spectrum is Aurora
Borealis. Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, is a result of solar wind from the sun and several substances like nitrogen or oxygen. It is a bright glow of colors, which can include pink, gray, green, blue, red, or purple. This phenomena occurs at the North and South poles when it is dark out, and is at its most spectacular 23 degrees from the poles.
images:Wikipedia
Another interesting marvel the visible light spectrum has to offer are Sun Dogs. Sun Dogs appear in the sky when sunlight refracts off hexagon shaped ice particles. Sun Dogs have a side that is red and a side that is blue, and are named "Sun Dogs" because they are separated 22 degrees away from the sun.
Although it may not seem like it, there are some dangers to Visible Light. Too much exposure to visible light can cause damage to your eyes, and more specifically your retinas.Bright, vibrant colors can also give people headaches. Lastly, phenomenas such as the Northern Lights are thought to of been contributing to environmental problems on our earth.
Despite the fact that it is only a portion of the entire Electromagnetic Spectrum, Visible Light impacts our lives very much. There is a lot of science behind Visible Light, seeing as the varying wavelengths determine what colors the cones in our eyes will see. Visible Light also gives us many marvels to see, such as Sun Dogs or the Northern Lights. Our lives would be very much different without colors, even though the Visible Light spectrum is a tiny portion of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
Citations:
Information:
1."Aurora Borealis." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
2.Dittner, Ron, and Ronald A. Bailey. "Visible Light." Encyclopedia of Chemistry.
New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. Science Online. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
3.Gould, William, Daintith Gould, and John Gould. "Sun Dogs." The Facts On File
Dictionary of Astronomy. 5th ed. New York: Facts On File, Inc, 2006.
Science Online. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
4.Kusterer, John M. "What Wavelength Goes With a Color?" Atmospheric Science Data
Center. NASA, 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
5."Visible Light Waves." National Aeronautics Space Administration. N.p., 27 Mar.
2007. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
Images:
1.Spigget. "The color spectra rendered into the sRGB color space using a gray
background to preserve the actual colors". 18 Jan. 2010. Wikipedia. N.p.,
21 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
2.The color spectra rendered into the sRGB color space using a gray
background to preserve the actual colors". 18 Jan. 2010. Wikipedia. N.p.,
21 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
3. "A dispersive equillateral prism refracting and reflecting an incoming
beam of uniform white light rendered into the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color
space". 15 Jan. 2010. Wikipedia. N.p., 17 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
7 comments:
Wow! Great blog. Your pictures were very intense and definatly helped me to understand visible light more. I liked reading about how visible light affects our daily lives, especially Sun Dogs. I hope I get to see one one day!
You did a great job on this, especially with explaining how it affects life on a day to day basis. Its strange to think that Visible Light harms your eyes, or gives you headaches because it seems completely harmless but it makes sense. Good job!
This blog is super good and helped me understand visible light. I love how you kept the idea of how it affects our lives throughout the blog. I also have never heard of a sun dog before and that interested me a lot.
About the aurora borealis, why does it only occur in the poles and not in other regions of the world? Is it the temperature of the air or medium?
This is really cool because you don't think there is much to know about visible light besides you can see it. But you explained everything really well, I had never even heard of a sun dog before this.
I thought it was very interesting how the we can see something a certain color because it absorbs all the other colors except for that one color(sounds kinda confusing but I'm not sure how else to phrase it). I also have never heard of a Sun Dog but it would be cool is I could see one someday. Also, how exactly are the northern lights contributing to our environmental problems?
Good blog! The info about the sun dogs was very interesting because I had never heard about those before and I never knew people thought the Northern Lights were contributing to our environmental problems. Very good and surprising information!
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