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Lighting technology: What is light?

Learn how physics describes light. Discover the whole electromagnetic spectrum and see how any colour is created as a mixture of three primary colours.

Have you checked out the Ledvance Training Centre yet? If you’re interested in lighting, this online platform is perfect, packed with bite-sized training videos with run times ranging from eight to 24 minutes, so they’re great to fit in around your apprenticeship.

The modules cover a variety of lighting topics, including technology, products and applications, and as the platform is available 24/7, you can dip in and out of the videos if you’re short on time. 

It takes just a minute to set up an account and then you’re free to explore the world of light! Certificates are available upon completion of the modules to keep track of your progress.

Why not start with Ledvance’s quick eight-minute introduction on Lighting technology: What is light?

The module covers:

  • What is light?
  • Light – a part of the electromagnetic spectrum
  • How light colours are created
  • White light and an introduction to colour mixing
  • Colour mixing with pigments
  • The meaning of cold white and warm white

The video begins with an explanation of light as a form of energy that occurs as electromagnetic radiation. It then introduces the electromagnetic spectrum and, within it, the light spectrum, also known as the colour spectrum.

Next up is how light colours are created, since we normally receive the light from the sun as white light. With the help of a prism, we see how white light is split into its colour components. The video then offers an introduction to colour mixing, an additive process, and colour mixing with pigment, a subtractive process.

We finish with a lesson on cold white and warm white. In the lighting industry, different kinds of white are created, received as warm white or cold white, but light can be white, white or white! Learn about the CCT (Correlated Colour Temperature) and the numerous shades of white that are possible, enabling the creation of many different atmospheres and moods.

Visit the Ledvance Training Centre here.