The Physics of Colour.

These experiments will show you something about colours and how we see them. 1. How well do you see colour - are you colour blind ? Look at the book of colour blindness tests - can you see the correct things? Write something about how the discs test for colour blindness. See if there is anyone in your class who is colour blind - what do they see? Please do not touch the coloured discs. Try and find out which part of your eyes detects colour. Do animals see in colour or black and white?

2. Adding colours Gently spin the coloured disc fixed to the electric motor. What do you see when the disc is still and when the disc is spinning? The picture shown is just a sample. In the actual disc there are more colours and the amounts of each colour are different. This is to do with how sensitive your eyes are to different colours.

3. Adding coloured lights. In art which three colours would you need to make any other colour? Now try the experiment with the coloured lights. Write down the result of adding:(a) RED LIGHT + GREEN LIGHT (b) RED LIGHT + BLUE LIGHT (c) BLUE LIGHT + GREEN LIGHT What colours of light would you need to make any other colour I Have a look at the shadows of an object with various coloured lights.

4. Splitting up white light. An experiment like this was first done by a man called Isaac Newton about 300 years ago. Set up the apparatus as shown and shine white light through the prism. Make a careful drawing of what you see. Which colour is bent most by the prism? prism This is how a rainbow is made ray box except that in a rainbow the light goes through water instead of glass or plastic. What are the colours of the rainbow?
Top view of the experiment

5. What do things look like in different coloured lights? If you wear a coloured dress, blouse or shirt in a room with coloured lights you may have noticed that the colours do not look the same as they do in white light. The next experiment will show you why. Use the projector with the three coloured slides and. the board with the three coloured pieces of paper. Shine each colour onto the board in turn and write down what colours the pieces of paper appear. Record your results in a table.

Colour of light Red Green Blue Red light Blue light Green light