Can Pulsing White Light Reveal Its Component Colors?

[cragar]

Is it possible to pulse white light from a source and see colors .

 

[Bill_K]

Not unless you use a prism. However there are optical illusions which seem to produce color from pulsating white light. If you watch a rotating disc with alternating black and white stripes painted on it, your eye will tell you there are bands of colors.

 

[cragar]

like a benham top.

 

[sophiecentaur]

It's a very subtle effect and not a basis for actual 'colour synthesis' like you'd need for colour TV. The strength of the effect is very subjective and depends upon the individual. I reckon it works on the different time constants and linearities of the colour receptors in the eye.
A prism or some diffracting structure (an oil film or lines on a CD surface, for example) works much better!

 

[sardar]

Yes, it is possible to pulse white light from a source and see colors. White light is actually made up of a combination of all the visible colors in the electromagnetic spectrum, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. When white light is pulsed from a source, it can be broken down into its individual colors using a prism or diffraction grating. This process is known as dispersion. The colors that are seen depend on the wavelength of the light, with longer wavelengths appearing as red and shorter wavelengths appearing as violet. By pulsing the white light, we can see the individual colors that make up the white light. This phenomenon is used in many applications, such as in color TVs and computer screens, where pixels emit different wavelengths of light to create a full range of colors.