The Physical and Chemical Basis of Colour

Abstract

It has been said that the presence of colour requires three things: a source of illumination, an object to interact with the light that emanates from this source and a human eye to observe the effect which results. In the absence of any one of these, it may be argued that colour does not exist. This chapter presents an introduction to the physics of visible light and the way it interacts with materials, together with a brief description of the physiology of the eye and how it responds to stimulation by light. In addition, the chapter contains a discussion of some of the fundamental chemical principles associated with coloured compounds, including a description of how dyes and pigments may be classified and an overview of the ways in which the chemical structure of a molecule influences its colour properties.