Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
Your skill will accomplish
what the force of many cannot
 
PerlMonks  

Re^3: How many colors does a rainbow have?

by BrowserUk (Patriarch)
on Jan 25, 2009 at 23:10 UTC ( [id://738840]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Re^2: How many colors does a rainbow have?
in thread How many colors does a rainbow have?

By that token maybe 4, because we also have separate receptors for brightness?

I don't think that you can classify intensity as a fourth "color".

If you increased the intensity of the spectural components in the rainbow whilst leaving their ratios unchanged, the observer would tend to squint, closing the iris, to reduce the overall amount light (number of photons), reaching the retina, with the result that the observer would perceive the same information.

Besides which, the rods only tend to come into play in low-intensity situations, when color information becomes distorted anyway. For example, at night, the green leaves of a rose tend to appear brighter than the red of the petals.


Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
  • Comment on Re^3: How many colors does a rainbow have?

Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Node Status?
node history
Node Type: note [id://738840]
help
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others about the Monastery: (2)
As of 2024-04-19 18:44 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found