Colour and the Eye

Science and Technology · 10 questions

The colour you see is in your head, not in the object.

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1. Why does the sky look blue?

   1. The ocean reflects onto the sky
   2. Water vapour in the air is blue
   3. Shorter wavelengths scatter more in air
   4. The ozone layer is blue
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   C) Shorter wavelengths scatter more in air

2. Why does a sunset turn red?

   1. The Sun cools in the evening
   2. Clouds change the colour
   3. Dust heats up and glows red
   4. The light travels a longer path through air
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   D) The light travels a longer path through air

3. Physically, what does it mean for an object to be red?

   1. It generates red light of its own
   2. It absorbs the wavelengths other than red
   3. It contains red pigment particles
   4. It is radiating heat
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   B) It absorbs the wavelengths other than red

4. What is the splitting of white light by a prism called?

   1. Dispersion
   2. Diffraction
   3. Polarisation
   4. Resonance
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   A) Dispersion

5. Which three colours do screens use to make every other colour?

   1. Red, yellow and blue
   2. Cyan, magenta and yellow
   3. White, black and grey
   4. Red, green and blue
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   D) Red, green and blue

6. What is the key difference between mixing paint and mixing light?

   1. One is always brighter than the other
   2. One is permanent and one temporary
   3. One is subtractive, the other additive
   4. There is no real difference
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   C) One is subtractive, the other additive

7. What is the colour you see on a white wall after staring at a bright colour?

   1. A reflection
   2. An afterimage
   3. A refraction
   4. Synaesthesia
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   B) An afterimage

8. The human eye is most sensitive to green light.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

9. Colour blindness most commonly affects telling red from green.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

10. A rainbow physically consists of exactly seven separate colours.

    1. True
    2. False
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    B) False