Why the color pink does not exist, according to physics

2024-01-10 21:59:00

Thanks to the movie “Barbie”, the color pink is trending once more. But in reality there is no wavelength associated with this color in the visible light spectrum: It is a creation of our perception.

In 2023 our lives became a little more rosa thanks to the resounding success of the movie “Barbie”. But, Did you know that pink does not actually exist in nature? This is because there is no wavelength associated with pink in the visible light spectrum.

The colors we perceive are the result of the electromagnetic waves that make up visible light. When the white light of the sun, which is a mixture of all colors, breaks down, like a rainbow, it reveals this spectrum of colors. Objects reflect certain wavelengths, which our eyes pick up and the brain interprets as colors.

Within the visible spectrum, which occupies only a small band of frequencies, pink is not found. This color is actually a visual perception that results from the combination of red and violet or pure blue. Pink objects do not reflect pink wavelength photons, but rather a mixture that the human brain interprets as such.

What our eyes do not see

Violet light is at the lower end (400 nanometers), and red light is at the upper end (700 nanometers). Frequencies beyond these limits are invisible to the human eye. Below red, we have infrared light, followed by microwaves and radio waves, used in communications and radar technology. Above the violet, ultraviolet light is found, used in disinfection and tanning, and even further, X and gamma rays, important in medicine for diagnostic imaging and treatments such as radiotherapy. The border between each type of light is not fixed, but varies according to its practical application.

Although pink is not a color on the electromagnetic spectrum, it is undoubtedly real in our perception. Saying that pink does not exist would be like denying the existence of black or white, which are also perceptions created by the combination of colors. Color is both a physical phenomenon and a human perceptual experience.

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