Colour mixing
Chemistry · Early Years · The School
Three special colours
Red, yellow and blue are special. We call them PRIMARY colours. You cannot make them by mixing other colours. No amount of mixing will ever give you a true red, yellow or blue. But you CAN make lots of new colours from them. Every other colour starts here, with just these three.
Making new colours
Mix red and yellow. You get ORANGE. Mix yellow and blue. You get GREEN. Mix red and blue. You get PURPLE. Three pairs. Three brand new colours. Try each pair yourself, with real paint or coloured water. Guess the colour first, out loud. Then mix and check if you were right.
Too many colours turn muddy
What happens if you mix ALL the colours together? Try it. Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, all at once, in one pot. The result is not bright at all. It turns brown, or a dull grey. Each colour blocks some of the light the others would show. More colours does not mean more brightness. It usually means the opposite.
GUESS: red and yellow mixed together. What colour? Now mix them. Orange! GUESS: blue and yellow mixed together. What colour? Now mix them. Green! GUESS: red and blue mixed together. What colour? Now mix them. Purple! Now mix all three together, red, yellow and blue, in one pot. It turns a muddy brown. Three bright guesses. One muddy surprise at the end.