Substances with a Single Visible Absorption Band Cannot Be Green

Abstract

Some chemistry textbooks use an inappropriate colour model when discussing the colour of a substance that absorbs light at a specific wavelength. More specifically, these textbooks state that substances that absorb only in the violet end of the visible spectrum are green-yellow and substances that absorb only in the red end are blue-green. This paper presents a more accurate approach.

Keywords

• Absorption
• Colour