Color and the Visible Spectrum - Research Paper Example

The visible spectrum range is located on the electromagnetic spectrum within ranging from 780 nanometer to 390 nanometers. The narrow band forms the ROYGBIV, as will be discussed in the body of the project. The following is a representation of a visible light spectrum within the electromagnetic wave spectrum: From the image above, it is clear that within each spectrum division of visible light range there is a particular color to that cause. Consequently, this brings the concept of retina perceiving specific color sensation when light consisting of certain wavelength drops on the retina.

Isaac Newtont illustrates this aspect by using the light shining on prism. The prism divides the light shining through into various wavelengths thereby showing the various color components of the visible light. Each color produced therein is a representation of a particular wavelength; the wavelengths are what cause the varying amounts of bend exhibited by each color. upon this discussion comes the aspect of dispersion, which is simply refers to the process of separation of visible light into various distinct colors.

In the presence of a prism, as shown in the image, dispersion of visible light results to the colors red (R), orange (O), yellow (Y), green (G), blue (B), and violet (V) (Gomes & Velho, 98). The abbreviations therein give visible light the name ROY G BIV (Even though Indigo (I) is usually not depicted within the spectrum range, it is arbitrarily added to produce a vowel for Roy’s name that comes last). From the spectrum, red has the longer wavelengths meaning it can be easily seen while violet has the shorted wavelength, which confirm the rarity of human eye seeing it.

The following is an image showing the visible light spectrum with description: The distinct types of cones characterized by photo-pigments in humans, allows them to have sensitivity to three