What is the result of mixing cyan and yellow?

Question

Options

• Amagenta
• Bblue
• Cgreen
• Dlight cyan

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  4% (2)
• C
  93% (43)

Explanation

Mixing cyan and yellow produces green (C) because, in subtractive color mixing (paints and pigments), cyan absorbs red light while yellow absorbs blue light - leaving only green wavelengths to reflect to the eye.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (Magenta): Magenta results from mixing red and blue, or from cyan + yellow + more red - not from cyan and yellow alone.
• B (Blue): Blue is produced by mixing cyan and magenta, not cyan and yellow.
• D (Light cyan): Adding yellow doesn't simply dilute or lighten cyan; it shifts the hue entirely toward green by absorbing blue light.

Memory tip: Use the CMY model - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow are the subtractive primaries. Any two adjacent primaries on the color wheel mix to produce the color between them: Cyan + Yellow = the color sitting between them = Green. Picture a triangle: C → G → Y.

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