Starter quiz
- A person has an object that they can see through clearly. The object transmits light so it can be described as being...
- transparent. ✓
- translucent.
- opaque.
- invisible.
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- The back surface of the eye that detects light is called the ______.
- 'retina' ✓
- How many types of cone cell are in the eye of a person who has full colour vision?
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3 ✓
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- Which of the following explains why we see mainly in shades of grey in dim light?
- The pupil becomes larger in dim light.
- The rod cells do not work well in dim light.
- The cone cells do not work well in dim light. ✓
- The cone cells all become equally sensitive in dim light.
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- Match each set of colours of light with the colour that is seen when they enter a person's eyes. (All of the colours in each set have equal brightness.)
- blue and green light⇔cyan ✓
- blue and red light⇔magenta ✓
- green and red light⇔yellow ✓
- blue, red and green light⇔white ✓
- no light⇔black ✓
- The screen on a mobile phone shows a yellow banana. Which of the following explains how it does this?
- The screen contains yellow coloured dye.
- The screen has tiny yellow lights, and these lights are switched on.
- The screen displays two colours of light and neither of these is yellow. ✓
- The screen splits white light into a rainbow of colours and shows the yellow.
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Exit quiz
- A rainbow shows the colours that white light can be separated into. They are always in the same order. This is called the visible light...
- band.
- plectrum.
- range.
- scale.
- spectrum. ✓
-
The diagram shows a 3D shape called a __________. When this shape is made out of glass or clear plastic, it can split white light into its component colours.- polygon
- pyramid
- triangle
- tetrahedron
- triangular prism ✓
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- Although a rainbow is actually a continuous range of colours, it is traditionally described as having seven colours. Starting with red, sort the seven colours of a rainbow into the correct order.
- 1⇔red
- 2⇔orange
- 3⇔yellow
- 4⇔green
- 5⇔blue
- 6⇔indigo
- 7⇔violet
- Which of the following statements describes how a rainbow is made?
- Each raindrop makes all of the colours of light.
- Different raindrops make different colours of light.
- Raindrops split white light into all of its colours. ✓
- Raindrops absorb some colours of white light but not the colours of the rainbow.
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- Which of the following can look like white light when it enters our eyes at the same time?
- a combination of equal brightness of red and green light
- a combination of equal brightness of red, green and blue light ✓
- a combination of equal brightness of red, yellow and blue light
- a combination of equal brightness of all of the colours of visible light ✓
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- A person looks at a television screen and sees cyan, a secondary colour of light. Which of the following statements are correct?
- The colour cyan does not appear in a rainbow.
- Light from the screen is detected by the R cone cells of the person’s eyes.
- Light from the screen is detected by the G cone cells of the person’s eyes. ✓
- Light from the screen is detected by the B cone cells of the person’s eyes. ✓
- The signal to their brain is the same as when they see a cyan object. ✓
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- White light from the Sun and light bulbs consists of light of all the colours in the visible light spectrum (a rainbow).
- A transparent triangular prism can split up sunlight into a visible light spectrum.
- The visible light spectrum shows the range of colours that light can have.
- Cone cells in the eye detect colour. There are 3 kinds (R, G and B); each is sensitive to a range of colours of light.
- The colour we see depends on which cone cells are triggered to send a signal to the brain.
Common misconception
Sunlight is yellow(ish), not white.
Show pupils a yellow light (and illuminate white paper beneath a yellow light) and compare it to sunlight to show that sunlight is white.
Keywords
White light - Light that consists of red, green and blue light in equal amounts so looks white.
Triangular prism - A uniform 3D shape with triangular ends.
Visible light spectrum - A rainbow pattern of coloured light that always occurs with the colours in the same order.
Cone cells - The cells at the back of the eye that detect colour.
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