Two Rays of Light: What Color is Projected?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter lordy12
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Light Rays
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the phenomenon of color projection when two rays of different colors of light, specifically red and green, intersect. Participants explore the implications of this interaction in terms of visual perception and the biological mechanisms of color vision.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions what color is projected on a wall when red and green light cross, expressing confusion about why the colors do not mix.
  • Another participant suggests that the colors projected are simply red and green, asserting that the human brain interprets their combination as yellow.
  • A different participant proposes an experimental approach, suggesting that drawing alternating red and green lines can demonstrate how the human eye perceives these colors when viewed from a distance, leading to a mixed perception of yellow.
  • One participant mentions the biological aspects of color vision, indicating that the stimulation of the three types of color receptors (cones) in the eye plays a role in how colors are perceived.
  • Several participants express curiosity about the underlying reasons for the observed color interactions, prompting further inquiry into the topic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying views on the nature of color projection and perception, with some agreeing on the biological basis of color vision while others focus on the experimental observations. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the definitive explanation of why colors do not mix visually.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion regarding the assumptions about color mixing and perception, as well as the dependence on individual physiological responses to light. The scope of the discussion does not fully address the complexities of color theory or the physics of light interaction.

lordy12
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
When two rays of different colors of light cross each other what color is projected on the wall? Say for example, red light, and green light cross each other, what is the ultimate color projected on the wall? Why don't the colors get mixed up?
 
Science news on Phys.org
why does this happen?
 
lordy12 said:
why does this happen?
It's a matter of the biology of color vision and how our three color receptors (cones) are stimulated. (If you're mainly interested in the biological aspects, I can move this thread to that forum.) There's a bit here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_vision"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
lordy12 said:
When two rays of different colors of light cross each other what color is projected on the wall? Say for example, red light, and green light cross each other, what is the ultimate color projected on the wall? Why don't the colors get mixed up?

The colour(s) projected on the wall are (1) red and (2) green. Period.

The human eye is sensitive to both read and green, but our brains interpret the combination of the two as yellow.
 
lordy12 said:
When two rays of different colors of light cross each other what color is projected on the wall? Say for example, red light, and green light cross each other, what is the ultimate color projected on the wall? Why don't the colors get mixed up?
Try this experiment: draw thin red lines alternated with thin green lines with bright colours on a bright white paper, then look at this drawing from some metres apart. You can do the same on computer monitor with a drawing application. The human eye cannot resolve the two different colours more than a certain limit, so the two colours signals will be mixed in your phisiological apparatus. This mixed signal is perceived as "yellow". The fact that a (really) yellow light is perceived in the same way, is due to the fact that yellow light has an average wavelength between that of red and that of green light, so it will stimulate red receptors and green receptors in our eye in the same way.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 207 ·
7
Replies
207
Views
14K
  • · Replies 40 ·
2
Replies
40
Views
4K
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
4K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K