What about when you look at something black, like a crow, or something white, like an egg? People usually think of black and white as colors, just like red. To your eyes, however, black and white are different from the colors of the rainbow. Black is what we see when no visible light is reflected off an object. Black objects don’t reflect any visible light because they absorb all types of visible light. Taking in energy from so many different types of light can make black clothes feel hot and uncomfortable on sunny days.
White, on the other hand, is what we see when all colors of visible light reflect off an object. White objects reflect all types of visible light. White clothes are great for staying cool on a sunny day because they don’t absorb any energy from visible light.
If black is the absence of color, what about things that appear to have no color, like a clear piece of glass? Clear glass seems to have no color of its own, but it isn’t black, either. When you look through a piece of clear glass, you see the colors of objects on the other side. This is because clear glass transmits all types of visible light. When these light waves hit a pane of glass, they pass right through, carrying their energy across to the other side. Through a clear glass window, you see a world full of colorful objects, each of which is reflecting certain wavelengths of light through the glass to your eye.