5/21/2017 ColorSubtraction

ColorSubtraction
TheElectromagneticandVisibleSpectra
VisibleLightandtheEye'sResponse
LightAbsorption,Reflection,andTransmission
ColorAddition
ColorSubtraction
BlueSkiesandRedSunsets

Thepreviouslessonfocusedontheprinciplesofcoloraddition.Theseprinciplesgoverntheperceived
colorresultingfromthemixingofdifferentcolorsoflight.Principlesofcoloradditionhaveimportant
applicationstocolortelevision,colorcomputermonitorsandonstagelightingatthetheaters.Eachof
theseapplicationsinvolvesthemixingoradditionofcolorsoflighttoproduceadesiredappearance.Our
understandingofcolorperceptionwouldnotbecompletewithoutanunderstandingoftheprinciplesof
colorsubtraction.InthispartofLesson2,wewilllearnhowmaterialsthathavebeenpermeatedby
specificpigmentswillselectivelyabsorbspecificfrequenciesoflightinordertoproduceadesired
appearance.
Wehavealreadylearnedthatmaterialscontainatomsthatarecapableofselectivelyabsorbingoneor
morefrequenciesoflight.Considerashirtmadeofamaterialthatiscapableofabsorbingbluelight.
Suchamaterialwillabsorbbluelight(ifbluelightshinesuponit)andreflecttheotherfrequenciesof
thevisiblespectrum.Whatappearancewillsuchashirthaveifilluminatedwithwhitelightandhowcan
weaccountforitsappearance?Toanswerthisquestion(andanyothersimilarquestion),wewillrelyon
ourunderstandingofthethreeprimarycolorsoflight(red,greenandblue)andthethreesecondary
colorsoflight(magenta,yellowandcyan).

TheProcessofColorSubtraction
Tobegin,considerwhitelighttoconsistofthethreeprimarycolorsoflightred,
greenandblue.Ifwhitelightisshiningonashirt,thenred,greenandbluelight
isshiningontheshirt.Iftheshirtabsorbsbluelight,thenonlyredandgreenlight
willbereflectedfromtheshirt.Sowhilered,greenandbluelightshineuponthe
shirt,onlyredandgreenlightwillreflectfromit.Redandgreenlightstrikingyour
eyealwaysgivestheappearanceofyellowforthisreason,theshirtwillappear
yellow.Thisdiscussionillustratestheprocessofcolorsubtraction.Inthisprocess,theultimatecolor
appearanceofanobjectisdeterminedbybeginningwithasinglecolorormixtureofcolorsand
identifyingwhichcolororcolorsoflightaresubtractedfromtheoriginalset.Theprocessisdepicted
visuallybydiagramattheright.Furthermore,theprocessisdepictedintermsofanequationinthe
spacebelow.
WB=(R+G+B)B=R+G=Y
Nowsupposethatcyanlightisshiningonthesameshirtashirtmadeofa
materialthatiscapableofabsorbingbluelight.Whatappearancewillsuchashirt
haveifilluminatedwithcyanlightandhowcanweaccountforitsappearance?To
answerthisquestion,theprocessofcolorsubtractionwillbeappliedoncemore.In
thissituation,webeginwithonlyblueandgreenprimarycolorsoflight(recall
thatcyanlightconsistsofblueandgreenlight).Fromthismixture,wemust
subtractbluelight.Afterthesubtractiveprocess,onlygreenlightremains.Thus,
theshirtwillappeargreeninthepresenceofcyanlight.Observethe
representationofthisbythediagramattherightandtheequationbelow.

CB=(G+B)B=G

Fromthesetwoexamples,wecanconcludethatashirtthatlooksyellowwhenwhitelightshinesuponit
willlookgreenwhencyanlightshinesuponit.Thisconfusesmanystudentsofphysics,especiallythose
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson2/ColorSubtraction 1/5
whostillbelievethatthecolorofashirtisintheshirtitself.Thisisthemisconceptionthatwastargeted
5/21/2017 ColorSubtraction

earlierinLesson2aswediscussedhowvisiblelightinteractswithmatterto
producecolor.InthatpartofLesson2,itwasemphasizedthatthecolorof
anobjectdoesnotresideintheobjectitself.Rather,thecolorisinthelight
thatshinesupontheobjectandthatultimatelybecomesreflectedor
transmittedtooureyes.Extendingthisconceptionofcolortotheabovetwo
scenarios,wewouldreasonthattheshirtappearsyellowifthereissomered
andgreenlightshininguponit.Yellowlightisacombinationofredandgreen
light.Ashirtappearsyellowifitreflectsredandgreenlighttooureyes.Inordertoreflectredand
greenlight,thesetwoprimarycolorsoflightmustbepresentintheincidentlight.

Testyourunderstandingoftheseprinciplesofcolorsubtractionbydeterminingthecolor
appearanceofthesameshirtsifilluminatedwithothercolorsoflight.Besuretobeginby
determiningtheprimarycolor(s)oflightthatareincidentupontheobjectandthensubtractingthe
absorbedcolorfromtheincidentcolor(s).

SeeAnswer

ComplementaryColorsandColorSubtraction
Intheaboveexamples,thepaperabsorbedbluelight.Paperthatabsorbsbluelightispermeatedbya
pigmentknownasayellowpigment.Whilemostpigmentsabsorbmorethanasinglefrequency(and
areknownascompoundpigments),itbecomesconvenientforourdiscussiontokeepitsimpleby
assumingthatayellowpigmentabsorbsasinglefrequency.Apigmentthatabsorbsasinglefrequency
isknownasapurepigment.Thefollowingrulewillassistinunderstandingwhatcolorsoflightare
absorbedbywhichpigments.

Pigmentsabsorblight.Purepigmentsabsorbasinglefrequencyorcoloroflight.Thecolorof
lightabsorbedbyapigmentismerelythecomplementarycolorofthatpigment.

Thus,purebluepigmentsabsorbyellowlight(whichcanbethoughtofasacombinationofredand
greenlight).Pureyellowpigmentsabsorbbluelight.Puregreenpigmentsabsorbmagentalight(which
canbethoughtofasacombinationofredandbluelight).Puremagentapigmentsabsorbgreenlight.
Pureredpigmentsabsorbcyanlight(whichcanbethoughtofasacombinationofblueandgreenlight).
Andfinally,purecyanpigmentsabsorbredlight.
Nowletscombinetheprocessofcolorsubtractionwithanunderstandingofcomplementarycolorsto
determinethecolorappearanceofvarioussheetsofpaperwhenilluminatedbyvariouslights.Wewill
investigatethreeexamples.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson2/ColorSubtraction 2/5
Example1
5/21/2017 ColorSubtraction

Magentalightshinesonasheetofpapercontainingayellowpigment.Determine
theappearanceofthepaper.
Magentalightcanbethoughtofasconsistingofredlightandbluelight.Ayellowpigmentiscapableof
absorbingbluelight.Thus,blueissubtractedfromthelightthatshinesonthepaper.Thisleavesred
light.Ifthepaperreflectstheredlight,thenthepaperwilllookred.
MB=(R+B)B=R

Example2
Yellowlightshinesonasheetofpapercontainingaredpigment.Determinethe
appearanceofthepaper.
Yellowlightcanbethoughtofasconsistingofredlightandgreenlight.Aredpigmentiscapableof
absorbingcyanlight.Thatis,redpapercanabsorbbothgreenandblueprimarycolorsoflight(recall
thatcyanlightisamixtureofgreenandbluelight).Soredandgreenlightshineonthepaperand
greenlightissubtracted.(Thereisnoneedtosubtractbluelightsincebluelightisnotshiningonthe
paper.)Thisleavesredlighttobereflected.Ifthepaperreflectstheredlight,thenthepaperwilllook
red.
YG=(R+G)G=R

Example3
Yellowlightshinesonasheetofpapercontainingabluepigment.Determinethe
appearanceofthepaper.
Yellowlightcanbethoughtofasconsistingofredlightandgreenlight.Abluepigmentiscapableof
absorbingyellowlight.Thatis,bluepapercanabsorbbothredandgreenprimarycolorsoflight(recall
thatyellowlightisamixtureofredandgreenlight).Soredandgreenlightshineonthepaperand
boththeredandthegreenlightaresubtracted.Thereisnocolorlefttobereflectedtotheeye.
Subsequently,thepaperappearsblack.
YY=(R+G)(R+G)=Noreflectedlight=Black

FlickrPhysicsPhoto
Threetransparentprotractorsareoverlaidontopofeachother.Theprotractorsarecoloredcyan,
magenta,andyellow.Thethreeprotractorsareilluminatedwithwhitelight,sometimesreferredtoas
RGBlight.Eachprotractorabsorbsasingleprimarycoloroflight.Thecyanprotractorabsorbsredlight.
Themagentaprotractorabsorbsgreenlight.Theyellowprotractorabsorbsbluelight.Wheretwo
protractorsoverlap,asingleprimarycoloroflightshowsthrough.Forexample,wherethecyanandthe
yellowprotractoroverlap,theredandbluelightareabsorbedandthegreenlightisseemshining
through.Andwherethecyanandthemagentaprotractoroverlap,theredandgreenlightareabsorbed
andthebluelightisseemshiningthrough.Finally,wherethemagentaandtheyellowprotractor
overlap,thegreenandbluelightareabsorbedandtheredlightisseemshiningthrough.Thisphoto
illustratestheprinciplesofcolorsubtraction.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson2/ColorSubtraction 3/5
5/21/2017 ColorSubtraction

FiltersandColorSubtraction
Theabovediscussionappliestotheappearanceofopaquematerials.Thedistinctionbetweenopaque
andtransparentmaterialswasmadeearlierinthislesson.Opaquematerialsselectivelyabsorboneor
morefrequenciesoflightandreflectwhatisnotabsorbed.Incontrasttoopaquematerials,transparent
materialsselectivelyabsorboneormorefrequenciesoflightandtransmitwhatisnotabsorbed.Like
opaquematerials,transparentmaterialsarepermeatedbypigmentsthatcontainatomsthatarecapable
ofabsorbinglightwithasinglefrequencyorevenarangeoffrequencies.Knowingthecolor(s)ofthe
incidentlightandthecoloroflightabsorbedbythepigmentorfilter,theprocessofcolorsubtraction
canbeappliedtodeterminethecolorappearanceofatransparentmaterial.Wewillconsiderthree
examplesinthespacebelowtheexamplesarevisuallydepictedinthediagramsbelow.

InExampleA,whitelight(i.e.,amixtureofred,greenandblue)shinesuponamagentafilter.Magenta
absorbsitscomplementarycolorgreen.Thus,greenissubtractedfromwhitelight.Thatleavesred
andbluelighttobetransmittedbythefilter.Forthisreason,thefilterwillappearmagenta(recallthat
magentalightisamixtureofredandbluelight)whenilluminatedwithwhitelight.Thisprocessofcolor
subtractioncanberepresentedbythefollowingequation.
WG=(R+G+B)G=R+B=M
InExampleB,yellowlight(i.e.,amixtureofredandgreen)shinesuponthesamemagentafilter.
Magentaabsorbsitscomplementarycolorgreen.Thus,greenissubtractedfromyellowlight.That
leavesredlighttobetransmittedbythefilter.Forthisreason,thefilterwillappearredwhenilluminated
withyellowlight.Thisprocessofcolorsubtractioncanberepresentedbythefollowingequation.
YG=(R+G)G=R
InExampleC,cyanlight(i.e.,amixtureofblueandgreen)shinesuponthesamemagentafilter.
Magentaabsorbsitscomplementarycolorgreen.Thus,greenissubtractedfromcyanlight.That
leavesbluelighttobetransmittedbythefilter.Forthisreason,thefilterwillappearbluewhen
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson2/ColorSubtraction 4/5
5/21/2017 ColorSubtraction

illuminatedwithcyanlight.Thisprocessofcolorsubtractioncanberepresentedbythefollowing
equation.
CG=(B+G)G=B

Thereasoningmodeledintheabovethreeexamplescanbeusedinanysituation,regardlessofthe
coloroftheincidentlightandthecolorofthefilter.Asyouapproachsuchproblems,whetherthey
involvetransparentoropaquematerials,besuretothinkintermsofprimarycolorsoflightandtouse
thelogicalreasoningsteps.Avoidmemorizingandavoidshortcuts.Ifafilteriscapableofabsorbinga
coloroflightthatisnotpresentinthemixtureofincidentlight,thenmerelydisregardthatcolor.Since
thatcoloroflightisnotincidentupontheobject,itcannotcontributetothecolorappearanceofthe
object.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson2/ColorSubtraction 5/5