How come red & purple are on opposite, far ends of the electromagnetic spectrum, but when mixing colors together in kindergarten, purple is halfway between red & blue?

Question

Shouldn’t common sense dictate that either both be one, or both be the other?

In: 1934

Answer 1

To make it very short. In light, red is a very long wavelength, actually the longest visible light wave. Purple is shorter as it’s a shade of blue, which is the shortest visible wavelength.

Mixing colors on paper doesn’t work by radiating light itself, but rather reflecting it using whatever light available around it.