On Vision and Colors from a prism, however, the production of white can be demonstrated by using a mixture of colored light from each of the three main pairs of complementary colors: red – green, orange – blue, or yellow – violet. White can be produced from two complementary opposite colors when both of the external causes of the colors excite the same retinal place at the same time. Newton claimed that white could be produced by the aggregation of his seven prismatic colors. He erroneously considered color to be in light instead of in the eye. White is the result of the combination
White As sunlight enters the ice, more light of the red spectrum is absorbed, so the light scattered will be bluish. Clouds are white for the same reason as ice. They are composed of water droplets or ice crystals mixed with air, very little light that strikes them is absorbed, and most of the light is scattered, appearing to the eye as white. Shadows of other clouds above can make clouds look gray, and some clouds have their own shadow on the bottom of the cloud. Many mountains with winter or year-round snow cover are named accordingly: Mauna Kea means "white