Mixing light adds signals reaching your eyes. The screen begins dark, then each coloured beam contributes to the overlap. Red plus green gives yellow in this model; adding blue makes white when the three contributions balance. Paint behaves differently because pigments remove parts of the light instead of adding beams.
Light, sound and electricity · Discover & try
What happens when coloured lights overlap?
Reading level 2 of 5 · DevelopingChange
Word help
additive mixing
Combining light contributions.
RGB
Red, green and blue display channels.
Watch · Try · Explain
See how it works
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Illustrative additive RGB display; not paint mixing or calibrated lamp spectra.
What to look for
- Pairs make different colours
- Balanced channels give neutral light
- Zero channels leave the screen dark
Explain what you noticed
A stage already has equal red and blue beams. Which added beam makes the centre neutral in this RGB model?
Keep this idea: Mixing light follows different rules from mixing paint.
Follow the sources
- Smithsonian Libraries — The Science of Color
- Smithsonian National Postal Museum — Revealing the Rainbow: Science of Color
Source material checked 2026-10-28. Explanations and activities by Nepedia. Source links do not imply endorsement.
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