What colour is an orange in the dark

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by mick, Oct 21, 2001.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. jpappl Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,985
    Either way it's orange.
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    Of course there is, in the strings of the violin.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,461
    I agree completely. Our inability to perceive something doesn't alter reality. You want to know what color the orange is in the dark? Bring a flashlight.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. dazzlepecs Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    76
    you can still figure the pitch by measuring a vibrating string.. Optical pickups actually do this
     
  8. dazzlepecs Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    76
    isnt an orange actually the inverse of that colour on the spectrum?? Due to the other colours being absorbed and orange being the only one bouncing back??
     
  9. ripleofdeath Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,762

    black hole sun etc...

    funny ol universe n all.
    sheeple are soo dumb
     
  10. EndLightEnd This too shall pass. Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,301
    Yes, unless there is an alternate way of perceiving colors other then light.

    Orange is a reference to a specific wavelength band of light. Orange is a property of orange (god couldnt we have done yellow/banana? lol). My point is that without light reflecting off the orange at specific wavelengths, no color exists. The information of "orange" is carried in light. No light = no information = no color. The property of orange remains unchanged there is just no light.
     
  11. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    15,396
    -=-

    Orange color requires certain properties of the object, the type(s) of light which carries that color, eyes that receive that light & a brain to interpret it & produce the image.
    Dark is the absence of light. No light = no color. No light receptor = no color. No brain = no color. Different enough properties of the object = different color. Different type of light = different color. Different eyes = different color. Different brain = different color.
    Color is 1 aspect of the brain's interpretation of the signals the eyes receive. The signals are light reflected from the object & are such as they are due to the properties of the light & the properties of the object.
    The OP presupposes the orange is there. The orange can be touched, held, squeezed, rolled about, tossed into the air & caught in the dark. There may be sound as it is squeezed or rolled & will be sound as it is caught. It can be smelled & tasted. And eaten.
    There is a difference between this & the tree falling in the forest. Color requires an observer. Sound does not.
    Technically, it is correct that the orange is not orange colored. It is the color(s) of the light it absorbs. If it were a simple matter of an object absorbing blue light & reflecting orange & another object absorbing red light & reflecting green & if we could know this of each object we see, I'd probably persist in calling the former blue & the latter red. As things are tho, it is much too impractical thus we refer to the reflected color.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 16, 2009
  12. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    Is it possible that you are speaking of color-perception instead of color ?
     
  13. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,738
    You are correct soulstar.
    That's why what you said was completely ignored.
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    Then color doesn't exist.
    How can you assign a construct of the mind to an object as a characteristic of that object ??
     
  15. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,738
    The colour we perceive as the colour of an object is the reflected light which is not absorbed as energy by the object.
    Thus, when white light hits a leaf, the light which is not used by the leaf in photosynthesis is reflected. This appears to us as the colour green.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!




    If you lit a plant with green light, it would barely keep alive.
     
  16. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    And ?
    What causes only the green light to reflect ?
     
  17. EntropyAlwaysWins TANSTAAFL. Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,123
    The material that the object is made of.
     
  18. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    Exactly. The rest is just interpretation. Case closed.
     
  19. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,738
    True.
    In the case of a plant, the organelles which change non green light into useable energy.

    Enmos, you need to rethink this.
     
  20. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    I don't think so Captain

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    What is your definition of 'color' ? In your own words please (no dictionary definitions).
     
  21. EntropyAlwaysWins TANSTAAFL. Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,123
    The wavelength of light you receive depends on the object and the light that hits it.
     
  22. Enmos Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    43,184
    The objects ability to reflect certain wavelengths doesn't change with the different colors of light that shine on it.
    In other words, it's characteristics don't change. Not when you shine a different color light on it and not if some other animal looks at it either.
    The characteristics of the object determine its color.
     
  23. EntropyAlwaysWins TANSTAAFL. Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,123
    Yes, however, it isn't strictly correct to say the object *is* orange because if no light of that wavelength hits the object then none will reflect off it.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page