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Black

Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced in directions from which no visible light reaches the eye. (This makes a contrast with whiteness, the impression of any combination of colors of light that equally stimulates all three types of color-sensitive visual receptors.)

Pigments that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye "look black". A black pigment can, however, result from a of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black".

This provides two superficially opposite but actually complementary deions of black. Black is the lack of all colors of light, or an exhaustive combination of multiple colors of pigment. See also Primary colors

table is a perfect absorber of light, but by a rule derived by Einstein it is also, when heated, the best emitter. Thus, the best radiative cooling, out of sunlight, is by using black paint, though it is important that it be black (a nearly perfect absorber) in the infrared as well.

In elementary science far Ultraviolet light is called "black light" because, unseen per se, it causes many minerals and other substances to fluoresce.

In the Western world, black is most often used with a connotation. The reasons for this are various, but the most widely accepted explanations are that night is experienced by humans as negative and dangerous. A secondary reason is that stains are most visible as dark additions to pale materials. In traditional class-based Western cultures "pale" skin indicated genteel domestic or intellectual indoor-work as opposed to rough outdoor labor in the fields. Aspects of this blackwhite opposition are not unique to the West, as, for example in the Indian varna system. African, Afro-Caribbean and African-American writers such as Frantz Fanon, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Ralph Ellison in particular identify a number of negative symbolisms surrounding the word "black", arguing that the good vs. bad dualism associated with white and black provide prejudiced connotations to color metaphors for race.

A "black day", in these cultures, would refer to a sad or tragic day. The Romans already marked fasti days with white stones and nefasti days with black.In these cultures, the color black is often used in painting, film, and literature to evoke a sense of the fear or to symbolize death. It has also been adopted as a symbolic color of the Halloween festival.In English heraldry, black means darkness, doubt, ignorance, and uncertainty. (The American Girls Handy Book, p. 370)Black is often a color of mourning. Historically, widows and widowers were expected to wear black for a year after the death of their spouses.Evil witches are sterotypically dressed in black and good fairies in white. Melodrama villains are dressed in black and heroines in white dresses. In many Hollywood Westerns, bad cowboys wear black hats while the good ones wear white. Funeral dress is black, wedding gowns are white.If you sink the black eight-ball in billiards, you lose. (The ball with which you sink all others is the white cue ball.)Black propaganda is the use of known falsehoods, partial truths, or masquerades in propaganda to confuse an opponent.In the Maasai tribes of Kenya and Tanzania, the color black is associated with rain clouds, becoming a symbol of life and prosperity.In Western fashion, black is considered reliably stylish. This seems to be for reasons of contrast with the white skin (conversely, white t-shirts or suits are always stylish among African-Americans).The colloquialism "the new black" is a reference to the latest trend or fad, on the basis that black is always fashionable.(Being "in the red" is to be in debt—in traditional bookkeeping, negative amounts, such as costs, were printed in red ink, and positive amounts, like revenues, were printed in black ink, so that if "the bottom line" is printed in black, the firm is profiting.)The term black is often used in the West to denote race for persons whose skin color ranges from light to darker shades of brown. For a discussion of usage, see the main entry at Black (people) and Color metaphors for race.In arguments, things can be black-and-white, meaning that the issue at hand is dichotomized. However, this dualism is fraught with danger, as one may assign the colors "black and white" to bad and good, respectively.The blackshirts were Italian Fascist militias (negative for anti-fascists, but presumably positive for the original fascists themselves)Some organizations are called "black" when they keep a low profile, like Sociétés Anonymes and secret societies.The term "black hole" is applied to collapsed stars. This term is metaphorical in the extreme, because few properties of black objects or black voids apply to black holes. However, light emitted within a black hole's event horizon cannot escape, hence a black hole cannot be directly observed.Association football (soccer) referees traditionally wear all-black uniforms, however nowadays other uniform colors may also be worn.Black is also used for anarchist symbolism, sometimes split in diagonal with other colors for further symbolism. The plain black flag is explained as the opposite of a white flag signalling surrender. It is also sometimes an anarchist dress code, with a practical benefit of not attracting attention and making later identification of a subject difficult. This strategy referred to as a black bloc.Black is the color of the snooker ball which has a 7-point value, and also the eighth billiard ball. In the game of eight ball, this ball is the ultimate object of the game, but, if accidentally sunk, means instant loss of the game.A polished black mirror is used for scrying, and is thought to help see into the paranormal world without interference or distraction.A large number of sports teams have uniforms designed with black colors - many feeling the color sometimes inparts a psychological advantage in its wearers. Among the more famous (or infamous) include the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA, and Inter Milan of the Serie A of the Italian soccer leagues.This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-08-16, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (audio help)