ANSWERS: 16
  • The color we see is determined by whict wave length of light is absorbed and which is reflected. Black is caused by all light being absorbed and white is cause by all light being reflected
  • Well if colour is determine by which wave length of light is absorbed and which is reflected, then black is still a colour because it is determined by having all light absorbed and all light reflected for white. If they aren't colours then that means colours are only intermediates been light being asorbed and reflected but not totally absorbed or reflected.
  • Basically because white is all colours and black is no colours.
  • White is the essence of colour, black is the absence of colour.
  • Ask a "real" artist. Maybe a "real" color (who are we quoting, here?) means a single frequency, but then my bathroom wall wouldn't qualify, since it is a mixture of green and violet paint. (It looks kind of like a GO light) I think that any spectrum ought to be considered as a color (say, 50% green plus 74% violet) -- or any two spectra which produce the same impression on the human eye ought to be considered as the same color -- either way, white and black would qualify.
  • Black is the absence of all colors. White is the absence of black.
  • It's all about "hue" in fact Because COLORS (to be named as such) have 3 components that are perceived: hue, lightness (how luminous it is) and chroma (the purity of the color). Hue being the color as we all know it. "Red", "Yellow",... are hues. Black and white have no hue and therefore are considered "achromatic". They are a different category because of this technicality because Black and White do have a lightness and a chroma that can be scaled.
  • Well, they aren't colours... Colour's are differentiated by their wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum, red (I think) at one end, blue/purple at the other (I think : P ) Now, while white is formed when all the colours are together (if you split white light up you get the full visible spectrum of light {a rainbow}), white / black are really to do with how bright the light is (shade). You can see the difference between the two pretty easily by turning a light brighter or darker - the colour of the light stays the same generally, the colour of the objects in the room stays the same, they just become closer to white or black as the light is brighter or darker. If you put a square of pure red colour under a bright light, it won't appear to be red any more - it'll look white (or very bright red) under the light, turn all the lights off and you'll just see black where that square is (and everywhere else, but that just proves the point). Black / White are descriptions of the -shades- that colours take on when you increase or decrease the amount of light. ***** If you darken red a lot, it becomes black. If you darken yellow a lot, it becomes black. If you darken blue a lot, it becomes black. The same can't be said for other mixes: If you redden green a lot, it becomes green. If you redden blue a lot, it becomes purple. etc etc.
  • There are two ways of generating colours, the additive system and the subtractive system. In the additive system, used by television, you start with black (a blank screen) and add Reg Green and Blue to create the effect you want. In this system, black is the start point, the point of no colour, and hence is "not a colour". Whit is the sum of all colours. In the subtractive system, used by printing you start with white and use cyan, magenta and yellow inks to get the effect you want by removing frequencies from white. In this system, white is the "no colour" and black is the sum of all the inks (actually, you have to use a black ink as well, both for economy and because the sum of the inks is actually muddy purple, not black). So in one system black is not a colour, and in the other white is not, so people tend to regard both as a bit suspect. Of course, these are highly technical points; for normal use (like buying clothes and paint) both black and white are colours.
  • "Since we have defined 'color' as the wavelength(s) of visible light reflected from an object, with the remainder being absorbed, a black object has no 'color' by our definition. An object we call 'white' reflects all wavelengths of visible light and therefore could be considered all-colored." "I think color is best defined as a human sensation. That is, we should define color as that property of visual impression which evokes the word ``red'' when looking at the setting sun and ``blue'' when looking at the daytime sky. From that point of view, white and black are both single, real colors, no less than red or blue or chartreuse." Source and further information: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99457.htm So, depending on whether you define colors as human senstions or as wavelengths, will black and white either be normal colors or extreme cases for the concept of color. Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White
  • In simple terms, white is the absence of color. Black is the absence of light. Since you need light to make color (colors are just different wavelenghts of light), black cannot be considered a real color. White is created when the wavelenghts of light all cancel each other out, thus creating a non-color. For a more scientific explanation, see the other answers that have more eloquence than I. :)
  • As I understand it, one represents the absence of color and the other represents the presence of all the colors. But to answer your question, I have no idea.
  • black absorbs all the colors of the visible spectum and reflects none of them White is the combination of all the colors of the visible light spectrum Sometimes black, white, and shades of grey are called achromatic colors this site helps explain it better: colors.http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-05/959170563.Ch.r.html
  • I thought they were colors?
  • White is the presence of all colors and black is the absence of color.
  • artistically they're considered values.

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