What’s the mechanism behind translating a wave frequency to a color for a human?
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Take the photoreceptor details from the other answers; here’s how the light frequency actually fits in:
Light can only interact with atoms if it contains EXACTLY the right amount of energy to move an electron one of its allowed distances. And the frequency of the light is ALSO the energy content of the photon. They’re the same concept just on different scales. So if light is the wrong frequency for a given set of aroms, it just passes on through and doesn’t interact.
So… a given configuration of atoms will only interact with certain frequencies of light, based on wha the elections are up to. Which is a fancy way of saying that certain stuff is a certain color. But it also means that by having a given configuration of atoms in specific proteins in specific cells (the photoreceptors from everyone else’s answers), those cells interact with the desired frequency (energy) of light, allowing you to see that light.
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