Seperating color

One way that light creates color is by passing through things. During the day the sun's light passing through the sky is perceived as blue, but at sunrise and sunset the color changes. When the sun is that close to the horizon, the light passes through the atmosphere, dispersing the light. Colors of red and orange are often seen.

A similar effect occurs when light passes through a prism or water. Instead of a solid color appearing however, the light separates into seven colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The separation of the colors is sometimes more prevalent than other times.

Lowering Energy Bills Through Color

In the summer air-conditioners work all the time to try and keep interiors cool. Most roofs are made of dark shingles, making it even harder on the air-conditioner. Through studies it has been shown that roofs that are white or reflective do a much better job of reducing the amount of heat that is absorbed into the house. This is because the color white reflects light whereas black absorbs the light and the heat that comes with it. By reflecting the light, energy bills are reduced because the air does not have to work as hard to keep the house cool.

When trying to reduce energy prices inside a house the same principle exists. Lighter colored walls will reflect more of the artificial light used. This allows a lower wattage of light bulb to be used, decreasing the energy used. It has been proven that "white reflects 80% of the light, black 5% (Morton)." The color used can also affect the temperature people perceive in the room.

Works Cited:

Morton, Jill. "Color and Energy Matters." Color Matters. 2007. 11 Apr 2008

Medication Color

Medicines used to be plain and bland when it came to color. Through the years color has been introduced to soft gel tablets, liquid medicine, and even regular pills. This experimentation started in the 1960’s, and then boomed again in 1975 (Morton). A big question that people ask is why it is necessary or beneficial to color medication?

By changing the color of pills, it is easier for people to distinguish between different medications. It has also been observed during a study that certain colorings on certain types of medication make it more appealing to the consumer. Blues tend to symbolize sleep and restfulness, when a person is in pain they gravitate towards red pills to relieve the pain (Morton).

Companies also use color on their medical products to entice the consumer to buy it. Now that many drugs are available over the counter consumers need help deciding which product to choose (Morton). Since “80% of visual information is related to color (Morton)” companies try to use colors that will make their clients want to take the medicine and let them know what the medicine is for.

Works Cited:

Morton, Jill. "Taking the Color of Medications Seriously: Pharmaceutical Color – A New Frontier!." Color Matters. 2006. 11 Apr 2008 .

Synaesthesia

Experiencing flashes of color while looking at numbers or letters may seem strange to you, but it is actually the most common form of synaesthesia. Synaesthesia is a nuerological condition that occurs when the senses intertwine in the brain (Morton). If you are one of the people who sees colors or shapes when you eat a certain food, or see letters, or hear musice, then you are what is known as a synesthete. Due to the lack of reporting, it is unkown how many synesthetes there are in the world.

Many artists that experience synesthesia incorporate it into their artwork. Some, who see whole scenes instead of simple color and shapes, draw from what they saw in their mind. Ocassionally artists will depict what they believe synesthetes see and experience because they temselves are not synesthetes.

Synesthetes do not necessarily see the colors that most people would think. Angry music does not evoke a red color in the mind off all synesthetes; however, red is often a color associated with anger. The colors that they do see do stay the same throughout their lifetime though. For instance, if someone sees the letter S as yellow, they will almost always see S as yellow, it is not common for the S to change to red or green.

Camouflage

Many animals protect themselves through camouflage. Their colorings blend into their natural habitat. This helps them to either hide from their predator or prey. Lions hide in the dried grass in order to sneak up on their anticipated meal. The coat of lions matches the color of the dead grass; the grass is also high enough to cover the lions.

Each environment causes camouflage to appear differently. Where most of the land is covered in snow and ice, the animals tend to be white or gray. Deserts have animals with a more sandy color, light brown. Grasslands and trees that are home to species lend their green color to the camouflage of the animals. Some animals make themselves look like other objects instead of blending in with the surrounding color. There are animals that look like leafs, sticks, even rocks.

The changing of seasons usually means that animals are no longer camouflaged. If an animal lives in a green grassland, there is a good chance that the animal will have a green or brown coloring. During the winter it may snow and cover all of the green. The animal would then stick out from the snow if he was still brown. The only way to really blend in with the changing scenery is to grow a new coat of fur since animals fur is composed of dead cells. This new coat would camouflage them in the snow, but when spring comes along, they lose their white, winter fur and grow back the brown fur.