Colour
Science: KS3, topic 3.3.26
Colours
At the start of the 1660s, Isaac Newton started research into light and colour.
Colours
- We see colour because of light receptors in our eye.
- Colour is just different frequencies of light.
Colour Mnemonic
- We can remember the spectrum of colours by the mnemonic Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).
Colours
- Red has the lowest frequency.
- The colours are ordered by frequency, with violet the highest.
- Colour are part of the visible light spectrum.
- Visible light waves are transverse waves.
Dispersion
- Light looks white because it is a mixture of all the colours.
- We can separate white light into the colours using a prism.
- White light refracting into colours is called dispersion.
Newton's Discovery
- Isaac Newton discovered dispersion in 1666.
- Newton stuck a needle in his eye around 1666.
- So Newton continued his investigations into colour and light.
Test yourself on Colour
Why do we see colour?
In which year did Isaac Newton discover the dispersion of light using a prism?
Select the correct statement in each pair
Name the seven colours of light in the visible spectrum
A beam of light is made of only one colour, so it has only one frequency. What would happen if this beam passed through a prism?