If orange has a frequency in the visible spectrum that is 620nm, how does light that is 2/3 red at 750nm and 1/3 green at 570nm also make orange?

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If orange has a frequency in the visible spectrum that is 620nm, how does light that is 2/3 red at 750nm and 1/3 green at 570nm also make orange?

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8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your eyes have red, green, and blue cone cells. The cone cells detect light in partially overlapping ranges. Orange is when the red cone cell is being activated slightly more than the green cone cell. Yellow would be red and green being activated about equal levels.

[Diagram](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SUUDl.gif)

You can make what appear to be any color with just varying strength of red, green, and blue light. This is what a screen does, but it is different from the actual wavelength of light found in nature. Your brain just interprets it the same way.

If you have an object that only reflects 620nm light, it will loon orange under normal circumstances, but if you place it in a room lit only by 750nm, 570nm light, and 450nm, the object will look black despite the room seemingly being filled with white light.

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