How does frequency affect light?

Question

I'm planning out my science fair project idea early and I want to do a project dealing with how the frequency, A.K.A. color, of light affects light.

I'm in 8th grade.

I'm hopefully going to overall try and explain how screens use red green and blue to make any color.

Answer 1

This is a great idea for a project.

You could do it with a simple over head projector and some sheets of "acetate" (basically translucent colored sheets of plastic. By putting the sheets over each other you can mix the colors in a way that is similar to that on a CRT (cathode ray tube) or non-flat panel TV/monitor.

You should experiment first to see the effects you get and you should only need three colors to do the basic mixing.

Do a search on "mixing light" to get some ideas. Note also that MIXING LIGHT IS NOT THE SAME AS MIXING PAINT PIGMENTS. (sorry for the caps, but just don't get the two confused.)

Here's one link to get you started, but it doesn't go too in-depth.

http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/inde...

have fun!

Answer 2

I do not really get your idea of "affects", but I can say that frequency does affect our perception of light in the visible range, higher frequencies correspond to "bluer" colours while lower frequencies to "redder" colours. Of course that higher frequencies always correspond to higher energy per photon and viceversa.

The experiment you are planning seems  quite interesting but please be aware that it refers to properties of light as much as it refers to properties of our visual perception system.

The best thing I can suggest is consult first with a good science teacher in your area.