Why the sky is blue and not violet?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kmm
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Sky
Click For Summary
The discussion centers on the perception of violet light and why the sky appears blue instead of violet. It explains that the sun emits less violet light and that violet is absorbed higher in the atmosphere, leading to blue being the dominant color perceived. Participants express confusion about the differences in how violet is depicted in various contexts, such as prisms versus rainbows, and whether violet is perceived as a deep blue or a purplish color. The conversation highlights that both violet and purple are not spectrally pure colors and are influenced by human color perception, which complicates their classification. Ultimately, the perception of violet can vary based on context and individual experience, leading to ongoing debate about its true appearance.
  • #31
Violet light stimulates both the red and blue receptors in the eye. So while spectral colours include pure blue and red, there is no spectral colour where red dominates over blue. The latter colour would be my definition of purple, which would be one of the few colours which do not occur as spectral colours.
There is plenty of space for experiments, e.g. comparing the spectral colour with some rgb colours on the screen.
 
  • Like
Likes kmm
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
DrDu said:
Violet light stimulates both the red and blue receptors in the eye. So while spectral colours include pure blue and red, there is no spectral colour where red dominates over blue. The latter colour would be my definition of purple, which would be one of the few colours which do not occur as spectral colours.
There is plenty of space for experiments, e.g. comparing the spectral colour with some rgb colours on the screen.
Mostly Blue end receptor but also Middle and Red end receptors. This is not displays we're discussing. Red dominates over Blue in Spectral Red, btw.
Yes. Displays could be used but they cannot produce colours outside the phosphor gamut.
 
  • #33
kmm said:
I have some confusions about this that I'm not finding clear answers for. First, looking at the color violet, it looks like a sort of "purple". The answer as I've understood it to why the sky doesn't appear violet or this "purple" is that it has to do with a combination of the fact that there isn't as much violet produced by the sun and it's absorbed higher in the atmosphere. In addition to that is while violet appears sort of purple since it stimulates the blue cones and the red cones less, the net effect from the different frequencies of light coming into our eye is that the blue cones are stimulated most. So we see the sky as blue. What's confusing to me is that while thinking of violet as sort of a purple, I've come across some explanations that regard violet as a deep blue, not this "purplish" color. To add to this, if you look at a spectrum produced by a prism, it doesn't appear to show violet as this "purple" but a deep blue, however when you look at a rainbow you can see violet as this sort of purple. So I'm not sure what violet is actually perceived as. If violet is perceived as a purple, why doesn't this show up with a prism? If violet is perceived as a deep blue, why do we see "purple" where violet should be in a rainbow? Which is it?
this is a botanical question:)

its something to do with the blue hue hitting the atmosphere and dissipating over plant foliage during summer months, the sun is higher and the plants like blue light during vegetative stage, when the sun goes lower with the coming of autumn the atmosphere let's in more red when the flowers appear ... Its the magic of photosynthesis:)

im not a botanist put its something like this :)

indoor hydroponics growers use 7000k blue for veg and 2000k red for flower ... IM not sure what the mn is .

you've heard the saying " red sky at night Sheppard's delight" :)

that's all iv got hope this helps :)
 
  • #34
You allready know this i presume:)

 
  • #35
sophiecentaur said:
Red dominates over Blue in Spectral Red, btw.
Yes.
Certainly, but in spectral red, green receptors will be stimulated even more than blue receptors, so you won't get the impression of purple.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
3K
Replies
36
Views
10K
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
23
Views
8K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
7K
  • · Replies 40 ·
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
41K