We look around us and enjoy the kaleidoscope of exhilarating colors. Colors are the way our eyes and brain interpret different wavelengths of light. V

We look around us and enjoy the kaleidoscope of exhilarating colors. Colors are the way our eyes and brain interpret different wavelengths of light. Variations of wavelengths determine the color of the spectrum which we see. When light hits an object, some of the wavelength is absorbed by the object and the rest is reflected into our eyes. Information is sent to the brain which determines the color we see. Though visible light is made of seven colors- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, we are able to see other colors depending on their wavelengths. What is astonishing is that there are some popular colors that do not actually exist, yet we see them all thanks to the amazing work of the human brain.      1. Magenta If you’ve ever seen the T-Mobile logo, then you’ve seen magenta. Magenta does not have a wavelength and there is no place for it on the spectrum which technically means it doesn’t exist. Magenta falls somewhere between red and violet which are at either ends of the spectrum. The brain tries to find a color midway between red and violet which is green. But wait, green is one of the colors that the eyes can see. This confuses the brain which tries to mix colors. The brain finally invents a new color which is magenta.  2. Purple Purple and violet are not the same color, though their names are used interchangeably. While violet has its own wavelength, the same cannot be said for purple. To get purple, the wavelengths of red and blue come together, but the color obtained is not purple but rather green and yellow. Again, this confuses the brain which replaces the yellow-green with purple.  3. Pink Most of us love pink, but sorry to say that pink doesn’t really exist, not in the way that you think. Pink doesn’t have its own wavelength. It depends on the wavelength of the existing color red. We can classify pink as another shade or tint of red. This is why with red, we can produce pink by adding a little white.    4. Silver Silver is not really a color. Instead, silver is a metallic hue, a shiny variation of gray. It is actually a reflective tone and not a solid or true color. Silver is often in art and text. To achieve silver, gray must be mixed with a reflective pigment. Any color can become shiny. All it takes is to add some fine shiny powder. To create silver, in digital art, one can manipulate the light and shade around a gray object. The same goes for gold.     5. Brown Brown is a weird color, but if you are a chocolate or coffee lover, then you have seen the color brown. You may be thinking that brown is close to black but this isn’t the case. Brown has a wavelength of 600 nanometers which, on the light spectrum, puts brown between yellow and red. But if you are knowledgeable of the spectrum, this is where orange falls. This means that brown is just one of the shades of orange.

Popular Colors that Don’t Actually Exist

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