tiles


Note:  Do not rely on this information. It is very old.

Black

Black signifies the entire absence of colour-sensation. An object appears black when no appreciable amount of light comes from it to the eye of the observer. This may be because (1) the object emits no light and no other source is available, as for instance, objects in a dark room which are then all black; (2) it absorbs all the light which falls on it without reflecting any back, like lampblack in the daylight; or (3) the light reflected is not reflected to the eye of the observer. Thus blackness is not an intrinsic property of the substance. But none of these conditions are ever perfectly satisfied; thus lampblack does not absorb absolutely all the light received upon it.