Question:
Is black a color?
2007-01-07 12:02:14 UTC
my boyfriend and i were arguing about this (not really arguing about it, but more like debating.) and he claims that black is a color simply because when asked "what color are your sunglasses?" one would reply "black." And no one ever says "well actually, it is the absance of color."However, i believe that it is not a color due becuase black absorbs all colors. Nothing is reflected back into your eye. So technically you cant even SEE black...its just empty space. Also, black is NOT on the color wheel. Furthermore, when you close your eyes, you are blocking all color from entering your eye, and you see black. So...is black a color?
Eleven answers:
silberstein_9
2007-01-07 12:24:39 UTC
Absolute black does not reflect or emit any electromagnetic radiation which could be detected by eye. This means that it is not a colour.



Artists may disagree and call black a colour. This is something cultural, not physical, however.



What we can see in our environment as "black" does usually contain glimpses of some visible wavelengths and does not look like "empty". This kind of object (like sunglasses) therefore have a slight colour, indeed.



I guess that the best way to "see" absolute black is to close yourself in a room which is totally isolated from the illuminated environment (maybe some basement storage in the middle of the night?). This kind of experience is really fascinating - I'll recall my memories when I was in the age of 5...



My answer? If you are an artist, black IS a colour. If you are a scientist, however, back IS NOT a colour. It is up to you, therefore, if you regard black as a colour or not!
Scythian1950
2007-01-07 20:09:39 UTC
Technically speaking, black is a shade, color is a hue. Any color, if dark enough, becomes black. So, if the question was, "What shade are your sunglasses?", black would be a correct answer.



Physicists speak of the color spectrum, based on frequency alone, but it's very different from the "color wheel" which is dependent on human eye receptors. The rainbow exemplifies the physicists' color spectrum. Notice that it tends towards black at BOTH ends? It's not because there is no light, it's because humans can't see the far infrared and the high ultraviolet light. The color wheel, on the other hand, is based on the human eye's sensitivity to red, green, and blue light, so that it requires a 3D graph to plot out all the colors of the "color wheel". Because the relative strengths of red, green, and blue can be represented as a phase, this is the part where the "wheel" comes in. That is to say, very unlike the physicists' color spectrum, the hues form a cyclical wheel. Black is not on it, but would be at the center of it, if the radius is taken to represent brightness. If the radius is 0, then it's black.



There are more than one way to represent the "color space" of human vision. Another would be to use red, green, blue as axes of a 3D color plot, in which case black would be at the origin (0,0,0), while all "pure hues" which are 100% unsaturated would lie only on the planes formed by the axes. All the other colors in the R, G, B space would have some saturation, meaning a mixture of a pure hue and white (or more correctly, a neutral).



In the vernacular, any and all colors, hues, shades is called "a color", because it's something, isn't it? Don't we have color charts that show all the colors, including black and white? But the best painters are critically aware of the distinction between hue, shade, and saturation, it's their lifeblood.
Captain Oblivious
2007-01-07 20:23:00 UTC
Well, obviously you already know that the color of something is whatever colors from the spectrum that are reflected...White reflects all colors, and black absorbs all colors, kinda like a black hole...So I guess your right that, since white REFLECTS all colors, it kinda is all colors. However, when you mix all the colors while painting, you'll get black...Technically, though, I think black isn't a color...or are white and black colors...Now I'm really confused...I'm going to end it at that before I hurt my brain....
audrey
2007-01-07 20:08:56 UTC
you are right. black is not a color. it is the absence of color. when white light (all the colors) bounces off a surface, some colors are absorbed and some are reflected. The reflected colors are what we see as being the color of the object. If an object is black, it means that it absorbs all the colors and none reflect, so it is really is not a color.
♫ αиgєℓ υи∂єя ¢σνєя ♫
2007-01-07 20:11:57 UTC
black is a color. but some people argue it as a tint. me and my cousin had a simaler fight like this. it was: I the world and universe was just, nothing, what color would it be?.. Tell your boyfriend that how does he know the absense of color is black, for all i know, it could be white. it is a question no one can answer... as the toostie pop comercial says: "the world may never know..."
tenn1194
2007-01-07 20:11:37 UTC
No Black is not a color
spinx_ops1
2007-01-07 20:08:18 UTC
to get my pay chick i will say black not acolor

saying the truth i will say its a color

cas the white color is compination of the other colors and the black is one of them

may be white is not a color
Clubber
2007-01-07 20:10:38 UTC
Black is color for sure
Charles
2007-01-07 20:05:39 UTC
You have recognized that common usage and "science" can sometimes be at odds. You are right, black is not a color.



HTH



Charles
2007-01-07 20:10:01 UTC
yes because my father's car is black
2007-01-07 20:41:22 UTC
its colour but its not color

DUNO!


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