Colour 

The primary colours of pigment (paints, crayons, pastels, etc.) are different from those of light. The primary colours of pigment are red, blue, and yellow. The primary colours of light are red, blue, and green. When these primary colours together (both with pigment and light) we get different colours.  The colours that come from mixing pigments together are different from the colours that come from mixing light together.

Primary PIGMENT colours	Primary LIGHT colours

Mixed primary PIGMENT colours red + blue = purple blue + yellow = green yellow + red = orange red + yellow + blue = black	Mixed primary LIGHT colours red + blue = magenta blue + green = cyan green + red = yellow red + green + blue = white

The three primary colours of light mix to create the seven distinct colours in the visible light spectrum and all of the shades in between. These mixtures are the colours we see all around us. The objects we see contain pigments that reflect or absorb different waves of the visible light spectrum.

White objects reflect all the colours of light, and black objects absorb all the colours of light. Other colours are formed by the different combinations (amounts) of light that is either absorbed and/or reflected. Most opaque objects do not reflect and/or absorb all the colours in white light equally.  This is why we see different shades of light.

We do not see the colours that are absorbed. The colours that we see are the reflected colours. For example, something that is green, absorbs all colours, except green.  In the example below the apple is red because it absorbs all the colours except red; the colour red is reflected.

Other things that effect the colours we see are: how dark/light it is, our eyesight, and the colour of the light source.