Strumpffabrik

Eintrag vom: 09.04.2013.

The spectrum of wavelengths we can see (visible light) ranges from 380 nm (blue) to 700 nm (red). Below this spectrum is ultraviolet after which we have blue and at the top of the spectrum of visible light is red after which we have infrared.

 

Although humans like to separate rainbow colors into six or seven colors (red orange yellow green blue purple etc) the visible spectrum and rainbows themselves are continuous there are no solid blocks of color they blend into one another.

 

In a rainbow or the separation of colors by a prism we see the continuous range of spectral colors (the visible spectrum). A spectral color is composed of a single wavelength and can be correlated with wavelength as shown in the chart below (a general guide and not a precise statement about color).

 

As the full spectrum of visible light travels through a prism the wavelengths separate into the colors of the rainbow because each color is a different wavelength. Violet has the shortest wavelength at around 380 nanometers and red has the longest wavelength at around 700 nanometers.

 

The human eye sees colors from 400 nanometers like violet to 700 nanometers like red. Violet has the shortest wavelength with high energy while red has the longest with low energy. Some animals can see colors outside the human visible spectrum like ultraviolet or infrared light.

 

Wavelengths of light range from about 400 nm at the violet end of the spectrum to 700 nm at the red end (see table). (The limits of the visible spectrum are not sharply defined but vary among individuals; there is some extended visibility for high-intensity light.)

 

White light is dispersed by a glass prism into the colors of the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is the band of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light (or simply light).