How can we see violet color when its wavelength is smaller than blue?

Question

From my understanding of our eyesight, we have red, blue, and green cones in our eyes that allow us to see color. If the wavelength of violet is smaller than blue (and green and red also) how can we see it? Shouldn't it be outside of our visible spectrum?

More on violet perception: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/40763/2451 , http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/28895/2451 and links therein. — Qmechanic, Sep 27 '16 at 12:48

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 08 '16 at 18:18

5

The cones aren't receptive to just one color, but a spectrum. This spectrum also includes wavelength in the violet region. The colour is just defined by the maximum. See here

edited Oct 08 '16 at 18:18

Vishnu JK

836

answered Sep 27 '16 at 12:17

Martin

15,550

How can we see violet color when its wavelength is smaller than blue?

1 Answers1