Making Color with Light

We spend years in elementary school learning how to mix paints to create a desired color. Mixing all of the paints together made a dark color–black, dark brown, dark gray. Yet this doesn't happen with colored light. A rainbow of colored light makes white light. Proof? A beam of white sunlight passing through a prism creates a rainbow of color.

A digital image is made up of millions of colored light intensity measurements. The colors? Red, green, and blue. In order to efficiently use these millions of pieces of data, we need to have a working knowledge of how intensities of red, green, and blue light may be combined to make millions of colors.

Example of a color space using red, green, and blue light.

Use the following activities and software to develop your skills in working with light colors.

Activities to Explore Colors

• Dueling Light Beams – Low cost way to mix beams of colored light

• MixingColor: Compare the colors produced by mixing colored light and colored paint.

Movies illustrating the basics of mixing paints and mixing light. Created by Marion Tomusiak from the Museum of Science, Boston.

• Naming Colors

  Movie illustrating effect of mixing color intensities. Created by Marion Tomusiak from the Museum of Science, Boston.

• Tri-Color Prediction

• GameTriColor: Challenge your skill at identifying the red, green, and blue contributions in randomly generated colors. Play against a friend or the computer.

• Tri-Color Reference Chart

• ReportTriColor: Test your skill at identifying the primary color contributions in randomly generated colors.

Back to Investigation Overview

The three primary colors in light
(red, green, and blue)
are used to make millions of
colors in digital pictures.

The three primary colors for print materials are
yellow. magenta, cyan (top circle).