1. Speed, Wavelength, Color And Human Perception
Light and Color
Speed, Wavelength, Color
And
Human Perception

2. The Speed of Light Frequency and Wavelength
In a vacuum electromagnetic waves move at
C = 3 x 10⁸ m/s
It moves slower in a medium
The distance from one wave’s crest to the next is called its wavelength (λ).
The number waves that go by in a second is its frequency (f, measured: crests/s or hertz ‘hz’)

3. The electro-magnetic waves that our eyes can detect have wavelengths between 400 to 700 nanometers
We call it “Visible Light”
Wavelength and Frequency are inversely related by:
c = f λ
Thus Visible Light is also between the frequencies of x 10¹⁶ Hz

4. A Color is the human perception of a specific frequency of light.
Red is the lowest frequency color
wavelength: 700 nm
Violet is the highest frequency
wavelength 400 nm
The order from lowest to highest frequency is: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet or
“ROY G. BIV”

5. White Light and the Spectrum
White Light is the combination of all colors.
Black is no colors
White light can be split into all the colors…a Spectrum
This can be done using a prism, ice crystal or a drop of water