Yellow

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Yellow
Spectral coordinates
Wavelength 570–580 nm
— Common connotations —
age/aging, warmth, cowardice, caution, happiness, slow, sunshine, the Orient, electricity, liberalism/libertarianism
About these coordinatesAbout these coordinates
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #FFFF00
sRGBB (r, g, b) (255, 255, 0)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S (short-wavelength) cone cells.[2] Light with a wavelength of 570–580 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of somewhat longer and shorter wavelengths. Yellow's traditional RYB complementary color is purple, violet or indigo, while its colorimetrically defined complementary color in both RGB and CMYK color spaces is blue.

Contents

[edit] Etymology and definitions

Complements of yellow have a dominant wavelength in the range 380 to 480 nm. The green lines show several possible pairs of complementary colors with respect to different blackbody color temperature neutrals, illustrated by the "Planckian locus".

The word yellow comes from the Old English geolu, or geolwe which derived from the Proto-Germanic word gelwaz.[3] The oldest known use of this word in English is in the Old English poem Beowulf, in a description of a shield made of wood from a yew tree.[4]

In the English language, yellow has traditionally been associated with jaundice and cowardice.[5] Yellow is associated with the word "caution" and is the second light on stop lights; in American slang, a coward can be said to be "yellowbellied" or "yellow".[6] The color is associated with aging as well, for both people and objects (e.g. "yellowed" paper). Ethnographically, the term "yellow" has been used as a slang term for both Oriental persons ("yellow peril") and, in the early 20th century, light-skinned African-Americans (High yellow).

"Yellow" ("giallo"), in Italy, refers to crime stories, both fictional and real. This association began in about 1930, when the first series of crime novels published in Italy had yellow covers. The term "yellow movie" (黃色電影) can refer to films of pornographic nature in Chinese culture, and is analogous to the English "blue movie".[7] Lastly, it is associated with sensational journalistic practices, or yellow journalism, and resistance to militant trade unions.[4]

[edit] In science

[edit] Colorimetry

Hunt defines that "two colors are complementary when it is possible to reproduce the tristimulus values of a specified achromatic stimulus by an additive mixture of these two stimuli."[8] That is, when two colored lights can be mixed to match a specified white (achromatic, non-colored) light, the colors of those two lights are complementary. This definition, however, does not constrain what version of white will be specified. In the nineteenth century, the scientists Grassmann and Helmholtz did experiments in which they concluded that finding a good complement for spectral yellow was difficult, but that the result was indigo, that is, a wavelength that today's color scientists would call violet. Helmholtz says "Yellow and indigo blue" are complements.[9] Grassman reconstructs Newton's category boundaries in terms of wavelengths and says "This indigo therefore falls within the limits of color between which, according to Helmholtz, the complementary colors of yellow lie."[10] Newton's own color circle has yellow directly opposite the boundary between indigo and violet. These results, that the complement of yellow is a wavelength shorter than 450 nm, are derivable from the modern CIE 1931 system of colorimetry if it is assumed that the yellow is about 580 nm or shorter wavelength, and the specified white is the color of a blackbody radiator of temperature 2800 K or lower (that is, the white of an ordinary incandescent light bulb). More typically, with a daylight-colored or around 5000 to 6000 K white, the complement of yellow will be in the blue wavelength range, which is the standard modern answer for the complement of yellow.

[edit] Electric yellow vs. process yellow

Yellow
About these coordinatesAbout these coordinates
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #FFFF00
sRGBB (r, g, b) (255, 255, 0)
HSV (h, s, v) (60°, 100%, 100%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color box at right shows the most intense yellow representable in 8-bit RGB color model; yellow is a secondary color in an additive RGB space.

The measured light spectrum from yellow pixels on a typical computer display is complex, and very unlike the reflectance spectrum of a yellow object such as a banana.[11]


Process yellow (subtractive primary, sRGB approximation)
About these coordinatesAbout these coordinates
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #FFEF00
RGBB (r, g, b) (255, 239, 0)
HSV (h, s, v) (56°, 100%, 100%)
Source [1] CMYK
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Process yellow (also known as pigment yellow, printer's yellow or canary yellow) is one of the three colors typically used as subtractive primary colors, along with magenta and cyan. The CMYK system for color printing is based on using four inks, one of which is a yellow color. This is in itself a standard color, and a fairly narrow range of yellow inks or pigments are used. Process yellow is based on a colorant that reflects the preponderance of red and green light, and absorbs most blue light, as in the reflectance spectra shown in the figure on the lower right.

Because of the characteristics of paint pigments and use of different color wheels, painters traditionally regard the complement of yellow as the color indigo or blue-violet.

Process yellow is not an RGB color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure yellow ink.

[edit] Yellow lasers

Lasers emitting in the yellow part of the spectrum are much less common than most other colors.[12] They are also much more expensive than comparable lasers. This is because the difference in energy levels between the metastable and the ground state required for laser action is difficult to create for yellow photons. In commercial products diode pumped solid state (DPSS) technology is employed to create the yellow light. An infrared laser diode at 808 nm is used to pump a crystal of neodymium-doped yttrium vanadium oxide (Nd:YVO4) or neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) and induces it to emit at two frequencies (1064 nm and 1342 nm) simultaneously. This deeper infrared light is then passed through another crystal containing potassium, titanium and phosphorus (KTP), whose non-linear properties generate light at a frequency that is the sum of the two incident beams - in this case corresponding to the required wavelength of 593.5 nm (yellow).[13]

[edit] In minerals and chemistry

Structure of Titan Yellow

[edit] Yellow pigments

Reflectance spectra of yellow pigments, as a percentage of white (Abney 1891)
  • Yellow ochre (also known as Mars yellow, Pigment yellow 42, 43),[18] hydrated ferric oxide (Fe2O3.H2O), is a naturally occurring pigment found in clays in many parts of the world. It is non-toxic and has been used in painting since prehistoric times.[19]
  • Indian Yellow is a transparent, fluorescent pigment used in oil paintings and watercolors. Originally magnesium euxanthate, it was claimed to have been produced from the urine of Indian cows fed only on mango leaves.[20] It has now been replaced by synthetic Indian yellow hue.
  • Naples Yellow (lead antimonate yellow) is one of the oldest synthetic pigments, derived from the mineral bindheimite and used extensively up to the 20th century.[21] It is toxic and nowadays is replaced in paint by a mixture of modern pigments.
  • Cadmium Yellow (cadmium sulfide, CdS) has been used in artists' paints since the mid-19th century.[22] Because of its toxicity, it may nowadays be replaced by azo pigments.
  • Chrome Yellow (lead chromate, PbCrO4), derived from the mineral crocoite, was used by artists in the earlier part of the 19th century, but has been largely replaced by other yellow pigments because of the toxicity of lead.[23]
  • Titanium Yellow (nickel antimony titanium yellow rutile, NiO.Sb2O5.20TiO2) is created by adding small amounts of the oxides of nickel and antimony to titanium dioxide and heating. It is used to produce yellow paints with good white coverage and has the LBNL paint code "Y10".[24]
  • Gamboge is an orange-brown resin, derived from trees of the genus Garcinia, which becomes yellow when powdered.[25] It was used as a watercolor pigment in the far east from the 8th century - the name "gamboge" is derived from "Cambodia" - and has been used in Europe since the 17th century.[26]
  • Orpiment

[edit] In biology

Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellowhammer
  • The Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a passerine in the bunting family Emberizidae. It breeds across Europe and much of Asia. Most yellowhammers are resident, but some far northern birds migrate south in winter. It is common in all sorts of open areas with some scrub or trees. They are large with a thick seed-eater's bill. The males have a bright yellow head, yellow underparts, and a heavily streaked brown back. Females are much duller and more streaked below.
  • Yellowjackets are black-and-yellow wasps of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula (though some can be black-and-white, the most notable of these being the bald-faced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata). They can be identified by their distinctive black-and-yellow color, small size (slightly larger than a bee), and entirely black antennae.
  • Yellow poplar is a common name for Liriodendron, the tuliptree. The name is inaccurate as this genus is not related to poplars.
  • The Yellow-shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a large woodpecker species of eastern North America. They have yellow shafts on their wing and tail feathers.
  • Yellowtail is the common name for dozens of different fish species that have yellow tails or a yellow body.
  • Goldenrod is a yellow flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae
  • A Yellow Labrador Retriever refers to the lightest color that occurs in the breed, lighter than chocolate and black Labrador retrievers.
  • Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a species of tuna, having bright yellow anal and second dorsal fins. Found in tropical and subtropical seas and weighing up to 200 kg (440 lb), it is caught as a replacement for the depleted stocks of bluefin tuna.

[edit] In human culture

[edit] Astronomy

[edit] Calendars

  • Yellow is associated with Monday on the Thai solar calendar. Anyone may wear yellow on Mondays, and anyone born on a Monday may choose yellow as their favorite color.

[edit] Cultural associations

  • The ancient Maya associated the color yellow with the direction South.[28] The Maya glyph for "yellow" (k'an) also means "precious" or "ripe".[29]

[edit] Games

  • Yellow is the color of the snooker ball that has a 2-point value.
  • A semi-popular game in the UK is "Yellow Car", which involves yelling "Yellow Car" and striking someone close to you on spotting a yellow car. There are multiple variations of this game depending on area or group played with, but the above is the common rule between them.

[edit] History

[edit] Journalism

The Yellow Kid

[edit] Literature

  • Yellow Pages, one of the primary sources for addresses and personal information worldwide.

[edit] Medicine

  • Yellow is associated with jaundice, since someone who has that symptom has skin and/or eyes which have become yellowish.

[edit] Music

[edit] Mysticism

[edit] Politics

[edit] Sports

Folland Gnat T.Mk1 during a display at Kemble Air Day, England, in 2008. This aircraft is painted in the yellow color of a former RAF display team - the Yellowjacks.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Vexillology

[edit] See also


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords
  2. ^ James W. Kalat (2005). Introduction to Psychology. Thomson Wadsworth. p. 105. ISBN 053462460X. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0534624626&id=AHBnar7sEIIC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&ots=m3Lzw8xCgQ&dq=yellow-light+long+medium+short+cones&sig=13IGJmaW6EZQPq3yadyxP5ds_QY. 
  3. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  4. ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary
  5. ^ Hodgson, Charles (2007). Carnal Knowledge. Macmillan. pp. 133. ISBN 0312371217. 
  6. ^ Houghton Mifflin Company (2004). The American heritage college thesaurus. Oxford University Press. pp. 180. ISBN 0618402195. 
  7. ^ Hewitt, Duncan. "Chinese porn trader jailed for life". BBC News. 
  8. ^ J. W. G. Hunt (1980). Measuring Color. Ellis Horwood Ltd. ISBN 0-7458-0125-0. 
  9. ^ Hermann von Helmholtz (1924). Physiological Optics. Dover. 
  10. ^ Hermann Günter Grassman (1854). "Theory of Compound Colors". Philosophical Magazine Vol. 4: 254–264. 
  11. ^ Craig F. Bohren and Eugene E. Clothiaux (2006). Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3527405038. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=3527405038&id=1oDOWr_yueIC&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&ots=Jrfi5sRwoo&dq=%22measured+spectrum+of+computer+display+yellow+pixels%22&sig=vtsTKGy_bYEuMOhmf23ysJJxuvQ. 
  12. ^ "Laserglow - Blue, Red, Yellow, Green Lasers". Laserglow.com. http://www.laserglow.com/index.php?portable. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.  - described as "Very rare yellow laser colour".
  13. ^ Johnson, Craig (22 March 2009). "Yellow (593.5nm) DPSS Laser Module". The LED Museum. http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/yelldpss.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-27. 
  14. ^ "Titan Yellow". Nile Chemicals. 26 July 2008. http://www.nilechemicals.com/TitanYellow.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-28. 
  15. ^ Heaton, FW (July 1960). "Determination of magnesium by the Titan yellow and ammonium phosphate methods". Journal of Clinical Pathology 13: 358–60. doi:10.1136/jcp.13.4.358. PMID 14400446. PMC: 480095. http://jcp.bmj.com/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=14400446. 
  16. ^ "para-Dimethylaminobenzene". IARC - Summaries & Evaluations (International Agency for Research on Cancer) 8: 125. 1975. http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol08/p-dimethylaminobenzene.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-08. 
  17. ^ "Ph paper, Litmus paper, ph indicator, laboratory stain". GMP ChemTech Private Limited. 2003. http://www.gmpct.com/products/stains_indicators_indicator_paper.php. Retrieved on 2009-04-08. 
  18. ^ "Health & Safety in the Arts". City of Tucson. http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/paint1.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-28. 
  19. ^ "Pigments through the ages: Yellow ochre". WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/yellowochre.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-28. 
  20. ^ Harley, Rosamond Drusilla (2001). Artists' Pigments c1600-1835 (2 ed.). London: Archetype Publications. p. 117. ISBN 1-873132-91-3. OCLC 47823825. http://painting.about.com/od/productreviews/gr/RDHarley_pigmt.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-30. 
  21. ^ "Pigments through the ages: Naples yellow". WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/naplesyellow.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-30. 
  22. ^ "Pigments through the ages: Cadmium yellow". WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/history/cdyellow.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-05. 
  23. ^ "Pigments through the ages: Chrome yellow". WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/history/cryellow.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-05. 
  24. ^ "LBNL Pigment Database: [Y10 Nickel Antimony Titanium Yellow Rutile (iii)"]. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. 14 February 2005. http://coolcolors.lbl.gov/LBNL-Pigment-Database/paints/Y10.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-05. 
  25. ^ "gamboge (gum resin)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224855/gamboge. Retrieved on 2009-04-07. 
  26. ^ "Gamboge". Sewanee: The University of the South. 16 July 2002. http://www.sewanee.edu/chem/Chem&Art/Detail_Pages/Pigments/Gamboge. Retrieved on 2009-04-07. 
  27. ^ Odenwald, Sten. "Why is the Sun yellow?". http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q819.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-04. 
  28. ^ Rjabchikov, Sergei V (31 December 2006). "Several Remarks on the Maya Script". The AnthroGlobe Journal. http://www.anthroglobe.info/docs/rjabchikovs_mayascript_061231.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-28. 
  29. ^ Kettunen, Harri; Helmke, Christophe (5 December 2005). Introduction to Maya Hieroglyphs (Workshop Handbook 10th European Maya Conference). Leiden: Wayeb & Leiden University. pp. 75. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2688831/Introduction-to-Maya-Hieroglyphs. Retrieved on 2009-03-28. 
  30. ^ Bailey, Alice A. (1995). The Seven Rays of Life. New York: Lucis Publishing Company. ISBN 0853301425. 
  31. ^ Stevens, Samantha. The Seven Rays: a Universal Guide to the Archangels. City: Insomniac Press, 2004. ISBN 1894663497 pg. 24
  32. ^ Swami Panchadasi The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms Des Plaines, Illinois, USA:1912--Yogi Publications Society Page 33
  33. ^ "History of the Main Taxi Groups". Taxi Register. http://www.taxiregister.com/history.php. Retrieved on 2009-04-04. 
  34. ^ "Frank W. Cyr, 95, 'Father of the Yellow School Bus'". Columbia University Record (Columbia University) 21 (1). September 8, 1995. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss1/record2101.36.html. Retrieved on April 4, 2009. 
  35. ^ "Review backs yellow school buses". BBC. 12 September 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7610933.stm. Retrieved on 2009-04-04. 
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  37. ^ Robert Dinwiddle, ed (August 2001). Science Year by Year. Popular Science. Scholastic Corporation. pp. 45. ISBN 0-493-28438-4. 
  38. ^ Bej, Mark (April 16, 1994). "Learning the ["typical" US] Aspects". http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Signal/learning_the_aspects.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-04. 
  39. ^ a b Flag and Etiquette Committee (June 12, 2006). "Pratique". Flag Etiquette. United States Power Squadrons. http://www.usps.org/f_stuff/pratique.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-04. 
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