• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Science Struck

Science Struck

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Articles

A Color Spectrum Chart With Frequencies and Wavelengths

Colors are the most significant part of our everyday lives. Without colors, our life would be dull and boring. Have you ever wanted to know the underlying facts about colors. Well, let me be of assistance to you on this colorful journey and explain the color spectrum chart to clear your doubts.

Home / Uncategorized / A Color Spectrum Chart With Frequencies and Wavelengths

Like it? Share it!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Color Spectrum Chart

Colors are the most significant part of our everyday lives. Without colors, our life would be dull and boring. Have you ever wanted to know the underlying facts about colors. Well, let me be of assistance to you on this colorful journey and explain the color spectrum chart to clear your doubts.

Colors

Imagine the whole world in black and white color? Or picture the main plot of the movie Pleasantville if you have seen this flick? Just a mental image of a stark world devoid of colors is enough to reveal the importance of colors in our lives. Whether you are feeling blue after a hard day’s of work or going green with envy after seeing your neighbor’s fancy TV, the colors have become a language through which we express ourselves. It’s no wonder that the rainbow is often perceived as one of the most beautiful aspects of nature. Colors form when light falls on different objects and reflects as well as scatters different wavelengths. The scattered wavelengths are what see as colors.

Would you like to write for us? Well, we're looking for good writers who want to spread the word. Get in touch with us and we'll talk...

Let's Work Together!

Spectrum of Colors

Spectral colors are generally produced by monochromatic light i.e. visible light of a single wavelength. The spectrum appears continuous. Therefore, there are no definite boundaries between the colors. However, the approximate ranges of wavelength and frequency can be used to specify the difference. The most prominently apparent ones are violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. In reality, there are seven colors in the color spectrum with the addition of indigo between blue and violet. This was concluded by Newton after he successfully carried out experiments to disseminate a beam of monochromatic light by projecting it onto a glass prism at a specific angle to display the spectral colors. However, the frequency of the indigo color cannot be distinguished and recognized significantly by normal human eye, leaving the exception of some well-sighted people. Hence, it was suggested that indigo be dropped from the spectral chart and should be considered a shade of blue or violet.

From his experiments, Sir Isaac Newton observed that when a beam of monochromatic light falls on a prism, part of the light gets reflected whereas some part of it passes through the prism and a band of spectral colors emerges from it. From this, Newton speculated that light was made up of particles of different colors and that these particles move with different speeds in different media; their speed depending on the density of the medium. Red light was found to move faster than violet light in glass medium.

The visible spectrum or color spectrum is a subset of the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum is a range of frequencies of different energy waves such as gamma rays, X rays, ultraviolet rays, visible light, infrared waves, microwaves and radio waves. The visible light frequencies lie between the frequencies of the ultraviolet rays and infrared waves.

Color Frequency (THz) Wavelength (nm)
Red 400-484 620-750
Orange 484-508 590-620
Yellow 508-526 570-590
Green 526-606 495-570
Blue 606-668 450-495
Violet 668-789 380-450
Units
❋ THz – terahertz
❋ nm – nanometer

The frequency of wavelength range for indigo is around 425-450 nm and frequency of 670-700 THz. In the above color spectrum chart, indigo is made a subset of violet color. The low range of the color explains why it is difficult to distinguish this color in the spectral band. Since indigo is scientifically not recognized as a separate color, any wave having a wavelength of less than 450 nm is considered to be violet. Whereas gray, white and black are considered to be non-spectral colors. In fact, black is not even a color. Instead, it is the lack of color. Just as when there is light present (being the source of colors), it produces colors. Deficiency of light results in blackness. On the other hand, white is a mix of all the possible colors of the visible spectrum.

Although there are infinite number of color shades and hues, we all have a favorite one which somehow speaks to us more than others. Needless to say, these colors play an important role in our lives and affect our perception and behavior profoundly.

« Previous Post
Next Post »

Category iconUncategorized

Get Updates Right to Your Inbox

Sign up to receive the latest and greatest articles from our site automatically each week (give or take)...right to your inbox.
Blog Updates

Exploring the website?

Our site includes quite a bit of content, so if you're having an issue finding what you're looking for, go on ahead and use that search feature there!

Footer

We hope you are enjoying ScienceStruck! Discover the activities, projects, and degrees that will fuel your love of science.
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Copyright © Science Struck & Buzzle.com, Inc.
6789 Quail Hill Pkwy, Suite 211 Irvine CA 92603

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.