Additive Color Mixing

There are three types of color sensitive cells in our retina: red sensitive, green sensitive and blue sensitive. These cells are called cones, and their sensitivities correspond to the colors of three additive primaries Red, Green and Blue.

Additive color mixing works for mixing lights. The rules shown below apply to stage lights, computer monitors, projectors, and disco lights.

These rules do not apply to mixing paints or pigments.

The tree additive primary colors are:

In this computer based physics, you can change the intensity of the additive primary colors to get all the possible color hues.

When you mix the three additive primary colors in the same amount, you get the white color.

When you mix two of the additive primary colors, you get an additive secondary color.

Yellow, Magenta and Cyan are the additive secondary color. In addition, they are the subtractive primary colors (see subtractive color mixing exhibit).

You can get others possibility of colors when you change the relative intensity of the primaries. For example: