Colouring of Polymers and Composites - Introduction to Polymeric Composites with Rice Hulls - page 102

The origin of colour is sunlight, which has thousands of colours but, to our eyes,
only a few are visible. Most of us are familiar with the range of colours as shown in a
spectrum: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. These are the colours we
can perceive. Colours affect us in numerous ways, both mentally and physically. For
example, a strong red colour may raise one's blood pressure, whereas a blue colour will
have a calming effect. Being able to offer aesthetically pleasing polymer composites with
colour consciousness in harmony to end users, especially in the building construction,
automobile and furniture industries, can help achieve spectacular results.
8.1.2 Colour Wheel
The colour wheel or colour circle is a basic tool for combining colours. According
to reports, the first colour diagram was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. The
colour wheel is designed so that virtually any colour you pick from it will look good
together with another colour. Over the years, many variations of this basic design
have been made, but the most common version is the original wheel of 12 colours
based on red, yellow and blue (RYB). In general, several colour combinations are
considered especially pleasing. These are called colour harmonies or colour chords
and they consist of two or more colours with a fixed relationship in the colour wheel.
Colour impact is designed to dynamically create a colour wheel to match your base
colour. Colours are categorised broadly into primary, secondary and tertiary .
8.1.3 Primary Colours
In the RYB colour model, the primary colours are red, yellow and blue. I would like
to state that white and black should also be included so that the primary base is five
colours instead of three. Primary colours mean that these colours cannot be achieved
by the mixing of any other colours. With this base, it is possible to obtain any colour
by mixing among them.
8.1.4 Secondary Colours
The three secondary colours , green, orange and purple are obtained by mixing two
of the primary colours, for example:
• Green: yellow + blue
• Orange: red + yellow
• Purple: red + blue