Figure 24 Under white light, the pots appear white, green, yellow, red, and blue. Observing How does the red pot appear under red, green, and blue light?
What happens if you change the color of the light shining on an object? Look at Figure 24, which shows the same stack of flower pots in several different colors of light. The pots appear to be different colors when viewed in different colors of light. For example, the red pot looks black when viewed in blue light because the red plastic absorbs all of the light striking it. No red light reaches the object, so none can be reflected from it.
Mixing Colors of Light
Figure 25 shows how equal amounts of three colors of light—red, green, and blue—combine to produce white light. Primary colors are three specific colors that can be combined in varying amounts to create all possible colors. 
The primary colors of light are red, green, and blue.
When red light strikes a white surface, red light is reflected. Similarly, when blue light strikes a white surface, blue light is reflected. What happens if both red light and blue light strike a white surface? Both colors are reflected and the two colors add together to make a third color, magenta. When colors of light are mixed together, the colors add together to form a new color.
The secondary colors of light are cyan, yellow, and magenta. Each secondary color of light is a combination of two primary colors. Therefore, if you add a primary color to the proper secondary color, you will get white light. Any two colors of light that combine to form white light are complementary colors of light. A complementary color pair is a combination of one primary color and one secondary color. Blue and yellow are complementary colors of light, as are red and cyan, and green and magenta.
How is a secondary color of light formed?
Figure 25 The three primary colors of light are red, green, and blue. When any two primary colors combine, a secondary color is formed. Observing What color of light is produced when all three primary colors combine in equal amounts?
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