Brain Teasers
Red + Blue = ?
Science
Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.Science
Ben, a physics teacher and Lucy, an art teacher were arguing about what color red mixed with blue makes. Ben said it made magenta but Lucy said it made purple. Who is correct?
Answer
They are both correct. The three primaries for color are red, blue and yellow. The three primaries for light are red, blue and green. When mixing colors, red + blue = purple, but when mixing light, red + blue = magenta.Hide Answer Show Answer
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That was a good science teaser! Made me think at 4 am got my brain going thanks!
nice one, thanks for the teaser Question_Mark
i thought we learned in kindergartern that red plus blue = purple, but what do i know about science, right?
Good one. I got it right, but the wrong reason. I thought it had to do with the amounts of blue:red
Great One! I was totally stumped!
But did you know the only reasons that Red and Blue make Purple is because of they are not "pure" red and blue? Likewise for Blue and Yellow - pure blue and pure yellow paint would not give you green.
how easy.
i got it as soon as i finished reading it.
i got it as soon as i finished reading it.
Technically, the primary colors for dyes are Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. This can easily be proven by looking at the ink in a color printer. Mixing Yellow ink with Magenta will result in Red, mixing Cyan with Magenta will result in Blue, and mixing Yellow with Cyan will result in Green (see the relationship between the three primary colors for dyes and the three primary colors for light. If you don't, google it for a better explaination.) Since Red and Blue are created by mixing two colors, they can not be primary colors. However, Red, Blue, and Yellow are used in art as the primary color because paint is a complex mixture (as opposed to ink), and using Red and Blue works better than Magenta and Cyan when mixing paint.
That was a pretty easy one. I wasn't too sure about the physics part, but thought it sounded right too.
Arent magenta and purple the same thing?
i'm colour blind and i didn't even know there was a colour called magenta
Magenta is a light, pinkish sort of purple, for those confused. A really fun teaser, thanks.
Also depends on the quantity of the paint mixture.
Lots of red + little blue = Magenta!
Equal amounts = Purple!
Lots of red + little blue = Magenta!
Equal amounts = Purple!
I never knew that about pigment quantities. Thanks winddancir . Well I knew that different quantities made different colors but I didn't know what makes magenta.
the problem's solution is exactly what i thought. many thanks for the teaser
easy!!!!
I want to mix paint... I take some red on one hand, I take some blue in the other hand.. and Indigo! [pun on "in they go..."]
Good teaser. Good answer.
Ok, for those of you who care. This comes down to the difference between additive colors and subtractive colors. Paint is a subtractive color because red paint for instance absorbs all the wavelengths of light in ambient light and reflects red. Light on the other hand is additive because you when you mix light of a certain wavelength with light of another, you get back a composite of the two. Technically speaking, if you mix all the wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum you get white, and if you mix all colors of paint you get black. I say technically because if you actually mix all the colors of paint you something called chromatic grey. That was a little sceintific for some of you I'm sure but this is the science category
Tschuss
Tschuss
I was in the same "situation" as WJSMama. I thought it had to do with the values of the colors. Oh, well, I don't know that much about science, anyway...math is so much more fun and I'm A LOT better at it
dantak & curtiss82:
thanks for the accurate information!
As a physics teacher, Ben should have known both answers. As would Moe, a teacher in theater arts. Moe might also mention that red light on blue paint and blue light on red paint can have the effect of seeming black.
Easy, but cool!
Is that why when I get my nails done- painted black- they always seem to look Blue instead?
nice one! i didn't get it--i guessed they were right because it wouldn't be much of a brain teaser if they weren't but i had no idea why
very fun! and very hard for me
very fun! and very hard for me
Yay, got it right away!
I chose purple; not familiar with magenta.
Thanks for posting!
Thanks for posting!
The answer was more interesting than I thought it was going to be.
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