What color are these paint chips?

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Actual Dress

How the human eye sees color The retina in the back of the eye contains photoreceptors. There are two types: rods (which have no sensitivity to color but function at low light levels) and cones (which are sensitive to color but require more light input) These receptors release chemical signals which travel to the brain along the optic nerve. optic nerve

How we see the color of things The colors that we perceive are generated by two different processes: By additive properties of light through directly observing light emitted by an object like a light bulb or a glow stick. By subtractive properties of pigments due to reflection of light off of an object.

Additive Colors: Light The three types of cones in the eye allow us to see millions of different colors. The additive primary colors are red, green, and blue. All the different shades of color we can see are made by changing the proportions of red, green, and blue light. http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoacw1/coloradd.html

Subtractive Colors: Pigments Colored fabrics and paints get color from a subtractive process. Chemicals in the dyes and paints known as pigments absorb some colors and allow the color you actually see to be reflected. Magenta, yellow, and cyan are the three subtractive primary colors.

Subtractive Colors: Pigments Interactive Flash Animation Link

Printer ink uses the three subtractive primary colors to create millions of colors for color printing.

Light Pigment

Filtered Light http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/color-vision