MadSci Network: Physics |
Dear Becky, You are correct when you say that you see red because it is reflected back to you. The colors of light you see are usually a mixture of the light that reflects off of objects after some of the white light (from a light bulb or the sun) has been absorbed by the object. You actually see the left-over colors of light that did not stick to the object, but bounced off... As to silver and gold, these are metallic colors that are very reflective. Most of the light reflects off of these very flat surfaces. Otherwise, silver and gold are just another shade of colors: silver is a light-gray, and the gold is a yellow-brown shade. These colors just happen to be very shiny because of how smooth and flat the metal surface is... In fact, metallic inks are made by coloring tiny metal flakes with these shades to make silver and gold metallic markers...
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