Learn more physics!
Q:
What exactly is color?
- Dan (age 18)
A:
Light is what scientists call an electromagnetic wave. A light wave is
just like the wave you would see at a beach. Sometimes the waves have
peaks that are close together, and sometimes the waves have peaks that
are far apart. This happens with light too except light waves are very
very tiny. Some light waves have peaks that are closer together than
other light waves (for an electromagnetic wave, the "peak" is just a
point at which the strength of the electromagnetic field is the
strongest). The color of light depends on the size of the wave. If the
peaks are further apart (longer wavelength), the color looks more red.
And if the peaks of the light wave are closer together (shorter
wavelength), the light looks more blue.
Adam
(published on 10/22/2007)
Follow-up on this answer.
