The spectrum, obtained by refracting light through a prism, shows a number of characteristic regions of colour—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These regions represent large numbers of individual wavelengths; thus, the red extends roughly from 7600 angstrom units to 6500, the yellow from 6300 to 5600, green from 5400 to 5000, blue from 5000 to 4200, and violet from 4200 to 4000. Thus, the limits of the visual spectrum are commonly given as 7600 to 4000 angstroms. In fact, however, the retina is sensitive to ultraviolet light to 3500 angstroms, the failure of the short wavelengths to ...(100 of 31643 words)