Topic: Electricity and Lighting

Title: Mixing primary pigmented colours

Aim: To discuss the effects produced by mixing primary pigment colours
Materials:

white tile
100ml beakers
Three dilute solutions of:
Copper (IT) sulphate (cyan)
Potassium permanganate (magenta)
Potassium dichromate (yellow)

Procedure
1. A small beaker was placed on a white tile.
2. Equal volumes of two of the solutions were mixed roughly in the beaker. The
colour of the mixture was recorded looking down through the beaker to the
white tile.
3. The small beaker was rinsed thoroughly.
4. The experiment was repeated with a different mixture
5. The small beaker was rinsed again, thoroughly
6. The experiment with the third possible mixture was repeated.
7. Results were recorded in the table given below
8. White light van be thought of as a mixture of red, green and blue light. The
cyon solution allows blue and green to pass through but absorbs red. A
diagram was made to the table below, for each of the other two colour used.
Results:
Colour mixed
Cyan + yellow
Magenta + yellow
Cyan + magenta
Colour
Magenta(minus green)
Yellow(minus blue)

Final Colour
Green
Red
Blue
Reflect
Red+ blue
Red+ green

Absorbs
green
blue

white light

Magenta

white light

Yellow

Source of error: The potassium magenta that was used as magenta was very
rich. Therefore, the colour change that should have been acquired with cyan was
not seen.

Discussion: Red, green and blue are the primary colours of light. This is called
additive colours because you start with black (darkness) and add different
amounts of RGB to make the various colours. When you have equal amounts of
all three, you get white.
1. How can you explain the final colours which you saw in your experiment
by your colour diagrams?
Answer-From the experiment the final colours showed to be red, green and
blue. Green was seen as a result of mixing cyan and yellow, but while all the
other colours were absorbed green however, was reflected, which is why it
was seen. Red was seen as a result of mixing magenta and yellow, but while
all the other colours were absorbed from the spectrum red was however
reflected, which is why it was seen. Blue was seen when cyan and magenta
was mixed, but while all the colours of the spectrum were absorbed blue was
reflected, which was why it was seen.
2. If cyan was renamed minus red what would be the names of the other
two colours you used?
Answer-Cyan was renamed as minus red in the experiment. The names of the
other two colours in the experiment are minus green for magenta and minus
blue for yellow.
3. What would you predict as the result of mixing these three colours?
Answer-In the experiment, a prediction was made that if the three colours
were mixed a black colour would be present.
4. Why do most printers use black ink as well as cyan, magenta and yellow?
Answer-In printers most colour printers use black ink as well as cyan,
magenta and yellow. This is because white light splits into a spectrum of
colours. When these colours are mixed they should produce white light.
These colours that can make white light are: red, blue and green which are
addictive colours, however, when mixed they produce secondary colours. Red
and blue mixed makes magenta, blue and green mixed make cyan and red
and green mixed make yellow.