Red ball seen under red light. The ball appears red because its surface reflects red light. But as it absorbs visible light of any other colour, the ball will only appear red when there is a source of red light for it to reflect, such as in red or white light. Normal, white light is a mixture of all the colours of the spectrum. Under light with no red component, the ball will appear black. For pictures of this ball under white and green light, see images A200/365 and A200/367.