Complexity of Color

     Every second of every day, as long as your eyes are open, you are seeing color - unless of course you are red-green or blue-yellow colorblind. But otherwise, you are picking up on many of the discrepancies in life through their different colors. Before last class period, I did not really understand how an object can be one color and not another, how different objects can have the same color and be different shades of that color, as well as how some colors can be noticeable brighter than others. Well, this past Wednesday I found the answer. 

     First let’s analyze how an object becomes a certain color. It is all based on the wavelengths of each light energy wave, which is the distance between the top of one wave and the top of the next wave. For example, longer wavelengths, like 700 nanometers long, are the color red. But shorter wavelengths, like 5 nanometers long, are X-ray wavelengths and are undetectable by the human eye. 

     Amplitude determines a color’s brightness and intensity. Amplitude is the height of each wave. The taller the wave, the more intensely bright the color will be.

     And lastly, the purity of the color is determined by Saturation. Saturation is the simplicity of each wave, which is the degree to which the wave is perfect and symmetrical. The choppier the wave, the less pure the wave color will appear. 

     Next time you open your eyes, notice how you’re not just seeing “color.” Rather, you are seeing a combination of the wavelength, amplitude, and saturation of a wave.