There is no seven colored rainbow

Author: janesix

Posts

Total: 9
janesix
janesix's avatar
Debates: 12
Posts: 2,049
3
3
3
janesix's avatar
janesix
3
3
3
Newton invented "indigo" as a rainbow color because he thought it would be more "esoteric" to be seven colors instead of the six there really are. Indigo is either a very dark purple or blue, not a color on it's own.

There is a real mystery color though, and it is brown, which is not represented by the rainbow.

There are four ways to make brown:

The mixture of all three primary colors, red yellow and blue

The mixtures of secondary colors

orange-green
orange-purple
green-purple

There you go, you learned something new today
drafterman
drafterman's avatar
Debates: 6
Posts: 5,653
3
6
9
drafterman's avatar
drafterman
3
6
9
Any color is merely an artificial label assigned to some range of wavelengths of light (or combination therein). Light does not divide itself into colors. So the rainbow has exactly as many colors as we want it to have.
Discipulus_Didicit
Discipulus_Didicit's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 5,294
3
4
10
Discipulus_Didicit's avatar
Discipulus_Didicit
3
4
10
-->
@drafterman
Actual rainbow colors:

Very light red
Light red
Red
Dark red
Very Dark red
Light orange
Orange
Dark orange
Light yellow
Yellow
Dark yellow
Light green
Green
Dark green
Light blue
Blue
Dark Blue
Very dark purple
Dark purple
Purple
Light purple
Very light purple
Polytheist-Witch
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Debates: 1
Posts: 4,188
3
3
6
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Polytheist-Witch
3
3
6
You should credit your posts like this. Word for word from another site. Indigo is a color on the blue scale. It can describe the color move from blue to purple accurately. 
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 556
Posts: 19,381
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@janesix
In many ways brown is the inverse of gray/grey, despite both seeming 'dull' to our eye.
FLRW
FLRW's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 4,980
3
4
8
FLRW's avatar
FLRW
3
4
8
-->
@Polytheist-Witch
At Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany, psychologist Roland Fleming studies how we see objects around us.
“The only reason Newton came up with ‘indigo’ is because for occult reasons he believed there must be seven basic colours that come together to make white. It certainly has little to do with physics and a lot more to do with the relationship between perception and language,” Fleming said.
FLRW
FLRW's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 4,980
3
4
8
FLRW's avatar
FLRW
3
4
8
-->
@drafterman
rainbow is caused by sunlight and atmospheric conditions. Light enters a water droplet, slowing down and bending as it goes from air to denser water. The light reflects off the inside of the droplet, separating into its component wavelengths--or colors. When light exits the droplet, it makes a rainbow.
Polytheist-Witch
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Debates: 1
Posts: 4,188
3
3
6
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Polytheist-Witch
3
3
6
-->
@FLRW
Yeah, wasn't talking to you. 
janesix
janesix's avatar
Debates: 12
Posts: 2,049
3
3
3
janesix's avatar
janesix
3
3
3
-->
@Polytheist-Witch
huh?