It’s A Colorful Life

1. It’s A Colorful Life Dr. Larry Woolf Larry.Woolf@ga.com www.sci-ed-ga.org General Atomics Presented 3/24/07 to BEWiSE students

2. Why study color? • Color is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary – involving physics, chemistry, biology, technology, engineering, mathematics • Color mixing is the basis for much color display technology • A wide variety of models and methods are used, so it provides an interesting educational experience • Color is colorful! • Most books are inconsistent/incorrect – don’t trust everything you read! Provides interesting lesson in “truth.”

3. Addition and Subtraction • Suppose you are limited to numbers from 0 to 100. • Starting at 0, how do you get to 70? • Starting at 100, how do you get to 70?

4. Bar chart addition 100 Suppose you start with 3 bar charts that are empty (all at 0) 0 R G B 100 By addition, how could you end up with this result? 0 R G B

5. Bar chart subtraction 100 Suppose you start with 3 bar charts that are full (all at 100) 0 R G B 100 By subtraction, how could you end up with this result? 0 R G B

6. What do you know about color?

7. What is meant by “primary colors?”

8. What is meant by “primary colors?” • You can make “all” other colors • (not really true but OK to say – 3 primary colors can actually produce about 50% of the colors that can be seen) • You can’t make a primary color by mixing

9. Using your colored films, let’s do the experiment: Are the primary colors red, yellow, blue? • What colors can you make by mixing red, yellow and blue? • What colors can you make by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow? • Which set of 3 produces the largest range of colors? • Can you make any of these “primary colors” by mixing? • What are likely candidates for the 3 primary colors? What cannot be the primary colors?

10. Using your colored films, let’s do the experiment: Are the primary colors red, yellow, blue? • What colors can you make by mixing red, yellow and blue films? • Mixing red and blue makes black • Mixing red and yellow makes red • Mixing yellow and blue makes black • What colors can you make by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow films? • Red, green, and blue • Which set of 3 produces the largest range of colors? • Cyan, magenta, and yellow • Can you make any of these “primary colors” by mixing? • Yes, you can make red by mixing magenta and yellow • Yes, you can make blue by mixing magenta and cyan • What are likely candidates for the 3 primary colors? • Cyan, magenta, and yellow • What cannot be the primary colors? • Red, yellow, and blue because you can make red and blue by mixing 2 other colors and because you can’t generate a wide range of colors using red, yellow, and blue

11. Let’s learn more about how we see color Basic simplifying assumptions: 1. The color we see results from light of that color entering our eye. 2. This room is illuminated by uncolored (white) light

12. Absorption of light by colored films • Place C film over color wheel on white paper • C film absorbs what color of light? • Place M film over color wheel on white paper • M film absorbs what color of light? • Place Y film over color wheel on white paper • Y film absorbs what color of light? • Place C, M, Y films on top of each other over color wheel on white paper • What happens? What does this mean?

13. Absorption of light by colored films • Place C film over color wheel on W paper • C film absorbs R light • Place M film over color wheel on W paper • M film absorbs G light • Place Y film over color wheel on W paper • Y film absorbs B light • Place C, M, Y films on top of each other • All light (white light) is completely absorbed by the R light absorber,G light absorber, and B light absorber How can these observations be written mathematically? (R is red light, G is green light, and B is blue light and W is white light) See next page for guidance…

14. Consider the cyan film on white paper • When cyan film is placed on white paper… • What color light do you start with? • What color of light is subtracted? • What color light remains after the subtraction? • How can you write this mathematically?

15. Color math C W W W W – R = C

16. Consider the magenta film on white paper • When magenta film is placed on white paper… • What color light do you start with? • What color of light is subtracted? • What color light remains after the subtraction? • How can you write this mathematically?

17. Color math M W W – G = M

18. Consider the yellow film on white paper • When yellow film is placed on white paper… • What color light do you start with? • What color of light is subtracted? • What color light remains after the subtraction? • How can you write this mathematically?

19. Color math Y W W – B = Y

20. Place cyan, magenta, and yellow films on top of each other • What happens and why? • How do you describe this mathematically and pictorially? • What does white light consist of?

21. Color math W W – R – G – B = 0 W = R + G + B

22. Alternate model Each colored film subtracts a primary color of light: hence C,M,Y are called the subtractive primaries W – R – G – B = 0 W = R + G + B

23. Place a cyan film over a magenta film What color of light do you start with? What colors of light are subtracted? What color of light remains? How can you describe this mathematically? How can you describe this pictorially?

24. Color math B (R +G +B) – R – G = B

25. Now use an alternate pictorial model to show what happens:

26. Alternate pictorial model (R +G +B) -R = G +B (G +B) -G = B

27. What color results from each pair of colored film?

28. What color results from these pair of colored film?

29. What is the one big idea that determines color?

30. What is the one big idea that determines color? • Color is determined by light absorption • More generally, you will learn in subsequent physics classes the following big idea: When light interacts with matter, it can be reflected, absorbed, or transmitted

31. Color mixing • We found that mixing cyan and magenta films made a blue film • Mixing cyan film and yellow film makes a green film • Mixing yellow and magenta films makes a red film Now let’s make a model that describes these results

32. Color Wheel Model for Subtractive Colors Y M C What colors are between each of the subtractive primaries?

33. Color Wheel Model for Subtractive Colors Y R G Now let’s deconstruct the model in terms of cyan, magenta, and yellow components M C B

34. Deconstruct the model in terms of cyan, magenta, and yellow components Y R G M C Now, how could you make this “real?” B

35. Put them together and see what happens- Do you make a color wheel?

36. Color Wheel Model for Subtractive Colors Y R G What are the limitations of this model? Does it show all the possible colors? Does this model explain how our eyes see color? M C B

37. So What? • Let’s see what subtractive color mixing is good for: • Look at the color gradient strips and overlay the C, M, Y, and K (K is the letter used to represent black) strips to make different colors. Can you make more colors than the original films? • Take a look at the colored magazines using the handheld microscope. • How are colored pictures made?

38. Other color models • Color Cube • HSV (Hue/Saturation/Value) model • Color strips • Each has same Hue • Each square on a strip differs in color Saturation • Placing a K square under any color changes the Value

39. Let’s look at a cyan film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -R = G +B We see this color as cyan, so cyan light is entering our eye So C = ?

40. Let’s look at a cyan film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -R = G +B We see this color as cyan, so cyan light is entering our eye So C = G + B

41. Let’s look at a magenta film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -G = R +B We see this color as magenta, so magenta light is entering our eye So M = ?

42. Let’s look at a single colored film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -G = R +B We see this color as magenta, so magenta light is entering our eye So M = R + B

43. Let’s look at a yellow film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -B = R +G We see this color as yellow, so yellow light is entering our eye So Y = ?

44. Let’s look at a single colored film from a different perspective (R +G +B) -B = R +G We see this color as yellow, so yellow light is entering our eye So Y = R + G

45. We just developed the rules for mixing colors of light (additive color mixing)! • W = R + G + B • C = G + B • M = R + B • Y = R + G • R, G, B light sources used to generate wide range of colors for color displays Now let’s make a model that describes these results

46. Let’s now confirm these rules for additive color mixing using 2 light sources (slide projectors)

47. Color Wheel Model for Additive Colors R G What colors lie between them? B

48. Color Wheel Model for Additive Colors Y R G The same as the color wheel for subtractive colors! The color cube is also the same – just different primaries! M C B

49. Why was this slide used at the beginning of this presentation?Bar chart addition 100 Suppose you start with 3 bar charts that are empty (all at 0) 0 R G B 100 By addition, how could you end up with this result? 0 R G B

50. Why was this slide used at the beginning of this presentation? Bar chart subtraction 100 Suppose you start with 3 bar charts that are full (all at 100) 0 R G B 100 By subtraction, how could you end up with this result? 0 R G B