Exploring Light and Color (Spectrophotometry)
Do you not find it fascinating how color is perceived by the human eye and how it
may be viewed clearly? Color is an attribute of any item that can be defined by its
hue, brightness, and saturation. In the language of physics, color is precisely related
to electromagnetic radiation that falls within a particular spectrum of wavelengths
that are seen by humans. The electromagnetic spectrum's visible spectrum, or light,
is made up of radiation of these wavelengths (Nassau, 2024). The wavelength of
violet light is the shortest, whereas that of red light is the largest. Whereas,
frequency and temperature has an inversely proportional correlation with
wavelength, shorter the wavelength the higher is the frequency which is the Violet.
Although light is the only form of electromagnetic radiation that the human eye can
detect, it makes up a very small portion of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The
violet end of the spectrum has wavelengths of roughly 400 nm, whereas the red end
has wavelengths of 700 nm (see table provided) together with their frequency and
photon energy for additional information.
COLOR WAVELENGTH FREQUENCY PHOTON
ENERGY
RED 625-700 nm 400-480 THz 1.65-1.98 eV
ORANGE 590-625 nm 480-510 THz 1.98-2.10 eV
YELLOW 565-590 nm 510-530 THz 2.10-2.19 eV
GREEN 500-565 nm 530-600 THz 2.19-2.48 THz
LIGHT BLUE 484-500 nm 600-620 THz 2.48-2.56 eV
DEEP BLUE 450-484 nm 620-670 THz 2.56-2.75 eV
VIOLET 380-450 nm 670-690 THz 2.75-326 eV
Table 1. Colors with its corresponding wavelength, frequency and photon energy.
These colors are seen by our eye hence can make our surroundings livelier.
However, are you aware that invisible lights also emerged alongside our
surroundings yet contributes to how we live daily? According to (Universe
Optics,2020), the invisible lights are as follows:
● Ultraviolet light - This light is outside of the electromagnetic spectrum for
violet light. The ozone layer blocks off much of this light, but some of it still
reaches skin that isn't shielded from it, leading to sunburn. As you notice most
sunblocks in the market are advertising their own products wherein it has a
function to block the UV rays when a consumer uses it to avoid skin damage
and lessen melanin production due to light sunlight exposure but this is also
used when you wanted to tan your skin in aesthetic clinics, eliminating
microorganisms, producing fluorescent effects, drying resins and inks, and for
phototherapy are some other uses of UV light.
● Infrared light - This light comes between visible light and microwave
wavelengths, passing beyond the red end of the visible light spectrum. There
are three types of light: far infrared, near visible red, and near infrared
whereas thermal energy is emitted by far infrared. Muscle tension can be
lowered and local blood circulation enhanced by infrared radiation. This has
been used traditionally in medicine to treat wound-healing issues,
autoimmune diseases, and symptoms of muscle tension and pain present in
emerging machines and devices but must be in proper usage to avoid eye
damage.
● Radio waves - Out of all unseen light, these waves have the longest
wavelength. By altering and amplifying sound waves, radio waves are utilized
for communication. Air is a convenient medium for radio wave transmission.
When absorbed by the human body, they do not harm the organism, and their
orientation can be altered by reflection and refractive action. These
characteristics render them suitable for communication. Unfortunately, radio
waves still have drawbacks, such as being vulnerable to meteorological
conditions (lightning, static, fading), interference, propagation effects, and lack
of security.
● X-rays - In medicine, this wavelength of light is frequently employed; mostly
healthcare workers are the one who is always exposed in this light, mainly the
radiologic technologists. Through skin penetration, the wavelengths create a
radiographic image. The majority of x-ray wavelengths are absorbed by bone,
cartilage, and human [Link] blockages, cancer of the bones, and
infections are among the potentially fatal diseases that can be identified by
X-ray scanning. But ionizing radiation, which can cause damage to living
tissue, is the kind of radiation that is produced by x-rays.
● Microwaves - On the electromagnetic spectrum, microwave wavelengths are
situated between radio and infrared waves. Food's water molecules are
heated, excited, and distributed throughout the meal by microwave radiation.
Due to its ability to heat the water molecules in deep tissues, microwaves can
be harmful to the body.
● Gamma Rays - The most hazardous wavelength for living things is gamma
radiation, which has a large energy output. Subatomic particle interactions like
nuclear fusion and fission produce gamma rays. When radiation therapy is
applied to tumors, gamma rays help treat cancer by causing the tumors to
shrink. However, ionizations caused by gamma rays can cause harm to DNA
and tissue within the human body, as they can penetrate through to the fullest
extent.
Take away notes:
➢ The human visual spectrum is not complete, as the brain also interprets
unsaturated hues (pink is an unsaturated red, for example) and colors that are
a combination of wavelengths (magenta, for example). Palettes with mixed
colors yield tints and hues that are not considered spectral.
➢ It is not the case that animals are similarly limited because humans are limited
to seeing within the visible range. Since flowers frequently reflect UV light,
bees and other insects are able to perceive it. Birds have plumage that is
transparent in the ultraviolet (UV) and can see into the UV range (300–400
nm). In addition, humans see farther into the red spectrum than do most other
species. Just before orange begins, at 590 nm, bees are able to detect color.
Though not as far into the infrared spectrum as humans, birds can see red.
Furthermore, it is known that freshwater fish, such salmon moving from
oceanic to inland waters, can perceive infrared light.
➢ Colorimetry is the study of color measurement. This field makes use of a wide
range of instruments. The most advanced, spectrophotometers, examine light
by measuring the energy content at each spectral wavelength.
To distinguish between transmittance and absorbance, one must understand that
transmittance is the quantity or percentage of incident light that passes through a
sample, whereas absorbance is the amount of light that is absorbed instead of
passing through. Absorbance is determined as a logarithmic function of T: A = log10
(1/T) = log10 (Io/I). On The other hand, T is defined as I/Io, where I is the "output" or
transmitted light and Io is the "input" or incident light. All that is %T is (I/Io) x 100. For
instance, %T = 50% if T = 0.50% of the light would have traveled through the sample
and come out on the other side if the percentage T was 50%. These words are
widely used in spectroscopy, spectrometry, colorimetry, photometry, and other
related fields. It is also known as "optical density."
The relationship between light attenuation and the characteristics of the medium it
travels through is described by Beer-Lambert law (BLL), often known as
Beer-Lambert-Bouguer law or just Beer's law. This law is widely used in biomedical
optics, for example, to calculate oxygen saturation in human tissues, figure out the
molar absorbance of bilirubin in blood plasma sample, figure out the concentration of
hemoglobin components, or figure out the optical path length (OPL) through a tissue
for quantitative analysis of substances. BLL makes the assumption that the radiation
beam is orthogonally oriented, collimated, and monochromatic, that it is absorbed by
a single molecular species independently of others, that the probability of absorption
is not affected by interactions between molecules, and that the sample is
homogeneous and does not scatter the radiation (Oshina & Spigulis,2021). Browsing
online serves the searchers a lot of different varieties of how it will be solved,
however the formula I learned from the lesson I studied in this subject is that Beer’s
law formula is A= 2-log%T.
References:
Nassau, K. (2024, September 10). Color | Definition, Perception, Types, & Facts.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
[Link]
Table 1.
Helmenstine, A. (2023, August 29). Visible light spectrum wavelengths and colors.
Science Notes and Projects.
[Link]
Optics, U. (2020, April 28). What is Non-Visible Light? Universe Optics.
[Link]
The benefits and disadvantages of UV light. (n.d.).
[Link]
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deration%2C%20UV%2DA,radiation%20may%20lead%20to%20conjunctivitis
Behaviour and uses of electromagnetic waves - Electromagnetic waves - OCR 21st
Century - GCSE Physics (Single Science) Revision - OCR 21st Century -
BBC Bitesize. (2023, March 31). BBC Bitesize.
[Link]
aves%20are%20used%20for,make%20them%20ideal%20for%20communicat
ions.
X-rays. (n.d.). National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
[Link]
2Dray%20scans%20can%20diagnose,potential%20to%20harm%20living%20
tissue
Oshina, I., & Spigulis, J. (2021). Beer–Lambert law for optical tissue diagnostics:
current state of the art and the main limitations. Journal of Biomedical Optics,
26(10). [Link]