Color Absorption

Many young art students create a “color wheel”—mixing yellow and blue paint to create green, red and yellow to make orange, and blue and red to make purple. Most students think that the three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue and the three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green.

While this is true for pigment-based colors, light works in a different way. This is illustrated by the Color Absorption Gizmo. The Gizmo shows the three primary colors of light: red, green, and blue, which mix to form white light. Students can turn each light bulb on and off to see the resulting colors; for example, yellow light from the mixture of red and green. Students can then use various filters to create shades of gold, orange, brown, purple, and so on. A probe allows students to measure the RGB value of any location.

For a great classroom demonstration, use three projectors to cast red, green, and blue light onto a white screen. The resulting mix will be white. Have students walk in front of the screen and see the colored shadows that result: yellow, cyan, magenta, blue, green, and red. Discuss what is causing the different colored shadows and demonstrate the mixes by turning off one projector at a time.

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