Where is Magenta in the Colour Spectrum?
Q: Where is magenta ‘meant’ to be in the color spectrum – after blue or before red? The ‘blue’ (shorter wavelength) end of the visible color spectrum contains magenta/purple/violet/indigo (red/blue mixes). It seems that red also exists after blue! Effectively, this implies that there are 1 reds in the color spectrum (!) So what’s going on? Did it get second helpings? Answer: In a very real sense, red is getting second helpings. Due to a small idiosyncrasy with the design of the eye, blue wavelengths activate the blue cone, but surprisingly also activate the red cone. The reverse doesn’t happen however – red wavelengths don’t stimulate the blue cone. To answer the first question, magenta itself doesn’t appear in the visible spectrum. You need to mix blue and red wavelengths ‘artificially’ to achieve magenta. [editor] Visit the Light and Colour Trivia page for more information about this. Reverse Colour and the After image Q: If you look through a yellow filter for a few minutes, everyth
