Re: pinhole Color in the eye

Date view Thread view Subject view Author view Attachment view

From: Paul Doherty (pauld@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Tue Apr 12 2005 - 09:31:42 PDT 

Message-Id: <l0311072fbe81a7df0eb3@[192.168.112.132]>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 09:31:42 -0700
From: Paul Doherty <pauld@exploratorium.edu>
Subject: Re: pinhole Color in the eye

Hi Charlie

The red light is converted into electric impulses in one rod that is tuned
to respond to red frequencies
The blue light is converted into electric impulses by a rod tuned to
respond to blue light.

The electric signals are sent to the visual cortex where the perception of
magenta is created when both signals are detected in the same region of the
retina.

Paul D

>My colleague and I had a question about light mixing....for example we all
>learn that red added to blue produces magenta. The question is:
>
> is it constructive/destructive interference that creates the new color?
> is it the human perception of the two individual waves together that
>produces the magenta?
> is it solely a perception issue?
>
>Is the magenta a new single wave, so to speak or do the two waves excite the
>rods and cones in a way that we perceive magenta?
>
>Thanks,
>Charlie Bissell
>Craig Childress
>Hillsdale High School
>San Mateo, California
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To unsubscribe from pinhole, send an email to requests@exploratorium.edu
>with the words 'unsubscribe pinhole' (without the quotes) in the SUBJECT
>of the email.
>
>To subscribe to the digest and only get 1 combined message a day, send an
>email to requests@exploratorium.edu with the words 'subscribe digest
>pinhole' (without the quotes) in the SUBJECT of the email.
>
>Check out what your colleagues have written on Pinhole in the Pinhole
>archives at: http://saturn.exploratorium.edu/ti/alumni/pinhole.html
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date view Thread view Subject view Author view Attachment view

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Mon Aug 01 2005 - 16:06:48 PDT