General Chemistry Online: Color complements

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How color absorbed determines the color observed

A material that selectively absorbs blue light won't look blue. The colors that are not absorbed are what we see. The observed color is said to be the complement of the absorbed color. For example, dichromate ions absorbs blue light, so their solutions appear orange. Permanganate ions absorb green light, so permanganate solutions are purple.

Color absorbed	Color observed
Violet	YellowGreen
Blue Violet	Yellow
Blue	Orange
BlueGreen	Red
Green	Purple
YellowGreen	Violet
Yellow	Blue Violet
Orange	Blue
Red	Bluegreen

General Chemistry Online! Color complements