How many Colors are there?

Summary

Who Smarted? - Episode Summary: "How Many Colors Are There?"
Release Date: April 21, 2025

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Introduction to Colors

In this episode of "Who Smarted?", hosts Smarty Pants and Rhea Light embark on an enlightening journey to explore the fascinating world of colors. The episode begins with Smarty Pants engaging listeners with a playful riddle:

Smarty Pants [00:01]: "What's something you probably have at least one favorite of? It comes in many different shades and could be red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple."

After a humorous detour about a "rainbow meat cake," the conversation shifts to the fundamental concept of colors, emphasizing their omnipresence in our daily lives—from the walls of our rooms to the clothes we wear and the toys we play with.

The Role of Light in Color Perception

Rhea Light, personifying light, joins the discussion to illuminate the subject further:

Rhea Light [00:55]: "I'm super fast. I'm a particle and a wave, and I can really brighten up your day."

She clarifies her identity as light, specifically the electromagnetic spectrum visible to the human eye, also known as white light. Smarty Pants acknowledges the importance of light in color perception:

Smarty Pants [01:57]: "Thanks to light, I see color."

Newton's Prism Experiment

The duo delves into the historical discovery of colors through Sir Isaac Newton's groundbreaking experiment:

Rhea Light [04:50]: "In 1666, Newton observed that white light sent through a prism divided into a range of colors we call the visible spectrum."

Smarty Pants elaborates on the nature of prisms and their role in analyzing light:

Smarty Pants [05:10]: "A prism is a piece of glass or other transparent object that's been cut to have very precise angles and flat areas. It's used to analyze and reflect light."

The Visible Spectrum and Seven Colors

Newton identified seven distinct colors in the visible spectrum, which Smarty Pants helps listeners to memorize through relatable examples:

Smarty Pants [05:46]: "Red, like a rose. Orange, like your orange juice. Yellow, like a banana peel. Green like boogers, Blue, like the ocean. Indigo, like the indigo bunting bird. And violet, like violet from Willy Wonka."

Rhea Light confirms the scientific basis behind these colors:

Rhea Light [06:30]: "Each color corresponds to a specific range of light wavelengths."

Additive vs. Subtractive Color Mixing

The conversation transitions to the concepts of additive and subtractive color mixing, highlighting the differences in how colors are created and perceived:

Smarty Pants [08:26]: "When it comes to the colors the human eye can perceive, some estimate there are 10 million."

Rhea Light [08:12]: "Yep. And every single one of those millions of colors can be derived through addition or subtraction, or as they're known in color theory, additive or subtractive mixture."

Primary Colors in Different Models

Rhea Light clarifies the distinction between primary colors in additive and subtractive models:

Smarty Pants [09:12]: "Did you say red, yellow, and blue? Amazing."

Rhea Light [09:15]: "For a subtractive mixture, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. But for additive mixture, the primary colors are red, green, and blue."

She explains how combining these primary colors results in different outcomes, such as white light in the additive model:

Rhea Light [09:36]: "When you combine red, green and blue light, you get white light, which transmits all colors on the visible spectrum."

The Diversity of Colors

Smarty Pants addresses the vast array of colors available beyond the basic seven, emphasizing the human eye's incredible capacity to perceive millions of colors:

Smarty Pants [07:38]: "To get those colors, you gotta add or subtract colors from Newton's basic 7."

Rhea Light [08:06]: "When it comes to the colors the human eye can perceive, some estimate there are 10 million."

The Origin of Color Names

After the advertisement break, the episode resumes with an exploration of how basic color names originated in the English language:

Rhea Light [15:01]: "English has 11 basic color words. There's red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, gray, and brown."

Smarty Pants delves into the etymology of these color names, revealing that some did not originally denote colors:

Smarty Pants [15:32]: "Black comes from a word meaning burnt, and white comes from a word meaning shining."

He further discusses the historical context of color words, highlighting that "red" is one of the oldest color terms:

Smarty Pants [16:08]: "Red derives from the Sanskrit radhaira, meaning bloody in Old English."

Conclusion and Fun Facts

The episode wraps up with engaging facts about how objects reflect colors and the perception of black:

Rhea Light [18:01]: "When you look at an object that's your favorite color, guess what? That object contains every single color but your favorite color."

Smarty Pants [18:07]: "Color me amazed."

The hosts encourage listeners to appreciate the complexity and beauty of colors, leaving them with intriguing insights that blend science with everyday experiences.

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Production Credits:
This episode was written by Daniel Gold and voiced by Melissa Magenta Del Toro Schaffner, Adam Teal Davis, and Jerry Colber. Technical direction and sound design were handled by Josh Hazel Hahn, recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Associate producer Max Chartreuse Kamasky contributed to the production. The theme song was created by Brian Bluesteel Suarez with lyrics by Adam Tex Davis. "Who Smarted?" is produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert under Atomic Entertainment.

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the "How Many Colors Are There?" episode, providing listeners with a thorough understanding of the topics discussed, including the science of colors, historical discoveries, and the linguistic origins of color names. Notable quotes and precise timestamps enhance the summary's depth, making it valuable for both new and returning listeners.

Transcript

[Smarty Pants]

Psst. Hey, smartypants. Here's a riddle. What's something you probably have at least one favorite of? It comes in many different shades and could be red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. If you said meat cake, ladies newest creation, you're not wrong. One rainbow meat cake coming up. But if you said colors, you're absolutely right. Colors are the hues, tones and pigments that most of you see. Well, pretty much everywhere, every single day. On the walls of your room, on your clothes, on your toys. Pretty much everything on Earth displays a unique color.

[Rhea Light]

Ahem. Before you go any further, may I illuminate the subject?

[Smarty Pants]

Who said that?

[Rhea Light]

Can't you see me? I'm right in front of your face.

[Smarty Pants]

No, I don't see anyone.

[Rhea Light]

Well, I assure you I'm here. Here, I'll give you some clues to my identity. I'm super fast. I'm a particle and a wave, and I can really brighten up your day.

[Smarty Pants]

Wow, smarty pants. Any idea what it could be? Oh, I know. My rainbow meat cake in a jet plane.

[Rhea Light]

No. I am light.

[Smarty Pants]

Who cares how much you weigh?

[Rhea Light]

Not that kind of light.

[Smarty Pants]

Oh, you mean light as in sunlight, electric light or candle light?

[Rhea Light]

Exactly. The name's Rhea. Rhea Light. And I am the electromagnetic spectrum visible to the human eye, Often known as white light.

[Smarty Pants]

Gotcha. Nice to meet you, Ms. Light.

[Rhea Light]

Please, call me Rhea. When you talk about colors, you have to talk about me. Because without light, there'd be no colors. At least as perceived by the human eye.

[Smarty Pants]

I see. And thanks to light, I see color. But what exactly is color? How many different colors are there? And how did they get their names? Most importantly, who. Who wants rainbow meat cake? Maybe later. Right now it's time for another whiff of science and history on who smarted. Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun. But who's smart? And hey, smarty pants. Trusty here with a special mission for all the smarty pants listening. But unlike a top secret mission, this mission requires you to tell everyone. That's right. Your job is to spread the word about who's smarted so we can keep growing and bringing you awesome new episodes. To qualify for this mission, let's play a little game. Come. Who do you know that would love who smarted but doesn't listen to the show? Is it A, a friend? B, a teacher, C, a relative like your favorite cousin? Or D, a neighbor who loves fun facts? Got someone in mind? Great. Question 2. Where and when will you tell this person about who's smarted? Is it A, on a playdate, B, at school, C, in the car, or D, on the phone? Pick one, make a plan, stick to it, and best of all, complete this not so top secret mission. I'm counting on you, smarty pants. The more people you tell, the bigger we grow, which means a lot more smarting for you. Psst. Smarty pants. Question. How do you think humans discovered the nature of colors? Like, what defines them, how do they behave, and how are they perceived or seen? Did we, A, send light through a prism? B, examine meat cake lady's rainbow meatloaf under a microscope? Or C, play with magic markers and crayons until we knew all about colors? If you said markers and crayons, that's certainly how many kids are exposed to the wonderful world of colors. But that's not the right answer. That, of course, is a. Scientists sent light through a prism. Great job. If you got that right.

[Rhea Light]

Like I said, no ray of light, no colors. And I'm backed up by none other than Sir Isaac Newton, the world renowned English physicist and mathematician.

[Smarty Pants]

Isn't he also the guy with the apple on his head? Ouch. I do say that hurt. Huh? Gravity.

[Rhea Light]

Yes. In 1666, Newton observed that white light sent through a prism divided into a range of colors we call the visible spectrum. Whoa.

[Smarty Pants]

Oh. And for smarty pants who don't know, a prism is a piece of glass or other transparent object that's been cut to have very principal precise angles and flat areas. It's used to analyze and reflect light. Please continue, miss. I mean, Rhea.

[Rhea Light]

After observing the visible spectrum of light, Newton noted that the spectrum was continuous or nearly infinite. But to make things easier, he identified seven distinct colors which make up the core of the color wheel. These colors should be pretty familiar to you, smarty pants. Let's see if they can name them.

[Smarty Pants]

Oh, good idea, Raya. Okay, smarty pants, let's see if you can name the seven basic colors. As you may know, these colors also make up a rainbow. Okay, first, there's red, like a rose. Orange, like your orange juice. Yellow, like a banana peel. Green like boogers, Blue, like the ocean. Indigo, like the indigo bunting bird. And violet, like. Like. Oh, like violet from Willy Wonka. Violet. You're turning violet. Violet.

[Rhea Light]

Nice job. Each color corresponds to a specific range of light wavelengths.

[Smarty Pants]

Smarty pants. Light, just like sound, is measured in waves. These waves look kind of like ocean waves. They go up, form a peak, and then go back down. Thinking about the seven colors we just named, can you guess which color has the longest wavelength and which has the shortest wavelength? I'll give you a hint. I started with the longest and ended up with the shortest. Did you say red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest? You're right.

[Rhea Light]

And in between, there's orange, yellow, green, indigo, and blue. From longest to shortest.

[Smarty Pants]

But what about all the other colors, like the fun ones in your big box of crayons? Things like scarlet, red, Mac and cheese yellow, inchworm green, aquamarine blue.

[Rhea Light]

To get those colors, you gotta add or subtract colors from Newton's basic 7.

[Smarty Pants]

Add or subtract? I thought we were talking about colors, not math.

[Rhea Light]

We are, but remember, Newton was a mathematician.

[Smarty Pants]

Okay, so if we add or subtract colors from the first seven, how many new colors can we make? Smartypants, do you know, call out some answers? I heard a hundred, a thousand, a million? Are any of those right?

[Rhea Light]

When it comes to the colors the human eye can perceive, some estimate there are 10 million.

[Smarty Pants]

10 million colors.

[Rhea Light]

Yep. And every single one of those millions of colors can be derived through addition or subtraction, or as they're known in color theory, additive or subtractive mixture.

[Smarty Pants]

And just to be clear, we're talking about mixing colors together, right?

[Rhea Light]

Right. Sometimes you add a color to another color or colors, and sometimes you remove a color from a mix of colors that adding or subtracting helps form new colors. Of course, there needs to be a few base colors to start with.

[Smarty Pants]

Smarty pants. Do you know what those base colors are called? Not the colors themselves, but the group of base colors that can't be made by mixing other colors. Did you say primary colors? Great job. Now do you know what the primary colors are? Did you say red, yellow, and blue? Amazing. Smarty pants. What do you think of that, Rhea?

[Rhea Light]

I think they're half right.

[Smarty Pants]

What do you mean?

[Rhea Light]

For a subtractive mixture, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. But for additive mixture, the primary colors are red, green and blue.

[Smarty Pants]

Hold on, hold on. How can there be two different sets of primary colors? Smartypants, did you know about this?

[Rhea Light]

It's because of the difference between additive and subtractive mixture. Additive mixture involves combining or dividing beams of light.

[Smarty Pants]

Like what Newton did with his prism.

[Rhea Light]

Precisely. When you combine red, green and blue light, you get white light, which transmits all colors on the visible spectrum. Although Newton initially identified seven colors when he used the prism to divide white light, you only need to combine red, green, and blue light to make white light. That's what makes them primary colors for additive mixture.

[Smarty Pants]

And what about subtractive mixture?

[Rhea Light]

Subtractive mixture involves absorbing or reflecting light, such as with pigments.

[Smarty Pants]

Pigments, as in the stuff inside crayons, watercolors, and paint that makes them colorful.

[Rhea Light]

Right. O. Red pigment absorbs yellow and blue light and reflects red light. Yellow pigment absorbs red and blue light and reflects yellow.

[Smarty Pants]

I see. Hey, smarty pants. What do you think blue pigment absorbs? Did you say red and yellow? Great job.

[Rhea Light]

And when you mix together red, yellow, and blue pigments, you get black, which absorbs all visible light and reflects no light. That's what makes red, yellow, and blue the primary colors for subtractive mixture.

[Smarty Pants]

But wait, how can we see black if it reflects no light?

[Rhea Light]

Because that's what your eye sees. Black, like darkness. Is your eye perceiving or seeing a total lack of light.

[Smarty Pants]

Ah. To see or not to see, that is the question. Okay, so we know how colors are made and how many colors humans can see. But how did the colors get their names? I'm not talking scarlet, Mac and cheese, and aquamarine. I'm talking the basics, like red, yellow, green, blue, black, and white. The answer is right after this quick break. Have you ever had that moment where your kiddo looks up at you from the kitchen table, frustrated, stuck on their homework, and you want so badly to help them, but you just can't? Not because you don't care, but because school is different now. Math looks like a foreign language. There's the grammar. Rules have changed. Not to mention you're juggling five other things, and dinner is burning. Every parent I know has been here. That's why I want to tell you about something that can make your life easier. Ixl. It's an online learning program that helps your child with math, English, science, and social studies from Pre K to 12th grade. But while that would be enough, what makes it extra special is how it adapts to your child. It figures out what they need and guides them gently toward mastery. And Just like WhoSmarted, IXL makes learning fun. Your kids get instant feedback and even earn rewards. So if you're trying to set your child up for success, then set them up with ixl. It works and it's fun. And now who smarted? Listeners get 20% off when you sign up [e-mail] smarted that's ixl.com SL smarted 20% off. So you can get the most effective learning program out there at the best price and be the helpful parent that you were meant to Be okay, let's be honest. Life is a lot right now. Between school drop offs, back to back meetings, half folded laundry, and texts you forgot to reply to, who has time to launch that business idea that's been living in your Notes app since 2021? Especially with that one thing standing between you and finally getting your business out into the world. A website. That part always feels like a brick wall. You want it to look professional, you want it to work. And you don't want to spend a lot of money on it. That's why I'm telling you, use Squarespace. With Squarespace, it's as easy as tell it what your idea is. Pick a style you love. Boom. Website. They've got tools for selling, scheduling, newsletters, online stores, all of it. And it looks beautiful and it works perfectly. And the whole thing happens in minutes in the middle of your real messy, overloaded life three months from now. Don't let the reason you still haven't launched your business be but the website. I built my first Squarespace site in less than a half hour. This is the sign for you. To build yours, go to squarespace.com smarted and use code smarted for a free trial and 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. You don't need more time, you. You just need the right tool. That's Squarespace.

[Rhea Light]

A whole new season of terrestrials is coming. Radiolab's family friendly show all about nature. This season we are back with a new batch of episodes where we come.

[Smarty Pants]

Face to snout with some of the.

[Rhea Light]

Wildest, gnarliest creatures on this planet. We discover music, magic, medicine, and a.

[Smarty Pants]

Whole lot of fun starting April 17.

[Rhea Light]

All on the Radiolab for Kids feed.

[Smarty Pants]

Wherever you listen to podcasts. Now back to who smarted. Okay, Smartypants, it's time to find out how basic colors got their names. Care to shine some light on the subject? Raya?

[Rhea Light]

Sure. English has 11 basic color words. There's red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, gray and brown. Black and white. The earliest color words in the English language didn't originate as color terms. Black comes from a word meaning burnt, and white comes from a word meaning shining.

[Smarty Pants]

That makes sense. When something gets burnt, it turns dark or black. And when something shines, it's bright or white. Smartypants, which color word do you think developed next in the English language? I'll give you a hint. It's the same as a wildly popular condiment. If you said yellow like mustard. Sorry, that's incorrect. If you said green like relish, that's also incorrect. But if you said red thinking of delicious ketchup, you're the top tomato.

[Rhea Light]

Red derives from the Sanskrit radhaira, meaning bloody in Old English. One of the earliest written records of the word red is from 897 CE over 1,000 years ago.

[Smarty Pants]

Wow. Are there any other color words with written records that old?

[Rhea Light]

Yes. Yellow and green appear in Old English around the same time. Other colors like blue, brown, and violet appear later, pretty much in that order.

[Smarty Pants]

But words for colors don't always describe, well, colors. They can describe feelings, moods, or qualities. For instance, yellow can mean cowardly. Red can signal embarrassment or anger. And if you say you're feeling blue, that means what, smarty pants? Did you say sad? That's right. Say rhea. Were any of these meanings present when the words for colors developed for those colors?

[Rhea Light]

I'm not quite sure, but the quality that green describes was in the meaning of the word from way back Smartypants.

[Smarty Pants]

What feeling, mood, or condition does green describe? Is it a feeling happy? B Wanting a pickle, nom nom, nom, nom nom, or C being young and immature?

[Rhea Light]

No.

[Smarty Pants]

The answer is C being young and immature.

[Rhea Light]

No. The word green derives from the Proto Germanic grohny. Later, when it evolved into the Old English green, it meant the color green as well as youth and immaturity.

[Smarty Pants]

Cool. With so many amazing colors to choose from, you'd think it would be hard to pick a favorite. But most people have one. Mine is orange. What about you, smarty pants? Shout out your favorite color or colors. Nice. What about you, Rhea?

[Rhea Light]

As white light, I contain all the colors. I can't play favorites.

[Smarty Pants]

Makes sense.

[Rhea Light]

Want to hear something wild? When you look at an object that's your favorite color, guess what? That object contains every single color but your favorite color. It's true. In order for you to see that color, that color has to be reflected to your eye, which means it's not in the object. For example, an orange basketball is every color except the orange. Whoa.

[Smarty Pants]

I don't know about you, smarty pants, but color me amazed. If you think that's amazing, why don't you try my meat cake? A bright and colorful Shout out to Isaac in Wellington, New Zealand, we hear you love how who smarted makes you smarter is funny and is part of your daily ride to school. Oh, and you love when the trusty narrator talks about smart Pizza. Yep, now I'm hungry. This episode Colors was written by Daniel Gold and voiced by Melissa Magenta Del Toro Schaffner, Adam Teal Davis, and Jerry Colber Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hazel Hahn, who's Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Chartreuse Kamasky. The theme song is by Brian Bluesteel Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.