Coloring - the property of objects to reflect , reemit and scatter light , which determines their visual perception in certain conditions - the color perceived by a person.
- The term coloration is not synonymous with the word color ; it has a more special meaning than the concept of shade . Often the word coloration is used in relation to objects whose color is variable ( coloration of minerals ), in cases where color is of key importance ( patronizing coloration , warning coloration , etc.). In technology, the term is widely used in relation to objects specially painted in certain colors ( identification coloring , scale hypsometric coloring ). Coloring can additionally characterize the object: for example, the color and color of water are important features used in assessing its quality.
- The term dyeing is also used to define the actual dyeing process , as a synonym for dyeing , dyeing , for example, coloring of microorganisms .
Parameters that determine the color of objects
The main objective colorimetric characteristic of an object can be considered its reflection spectrum . Visible color depends on the brightness and spectral composition of the illuminating light. A certain contribution can be made by luminescence , more precisely, the emission spectrum of luminous components.
Coloring also depends on such characteristics of the object as the ratio of the transparency of the material and its refractive index , gloss , texture, dispersion of powders, irisization and others.
The color of objects is especially dependent on the color temperature of the light source. However, due to the adaptation of the eye to lighting conditions, such a dependence may not always be obvious.
Color Subjectivity
The phenomenon of metamerism leads to the fact that the color of objects that are identical in color, but initially different in chemical composition or structure, can change completely unexpectedly when the lighting conditions (color temperature) change. In addition, in low light conditions, color vision in a person does not work, and all surrounding objects will be presented in a gray scale .
The color of some objects may depend on their internal structure or on the surface structure. So, the irisation effect leads to variability in the color of minerals , diffraction changes the color of the wings of butterflies, light interference in thin films determines the colors of soap bubbles, etc.
See also
- Psychology of color perception
- Mineral coloring
- Protective coloration
- Warning coloring
- Identification coloring
- Hypsometric color scale