Chapter 28, Problem 8A

Why are more and more fire engines being painted yellow-green instead of red?

To determine

Explain, the reason for most of the fire engines are being painted yellow-green instead of red.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Generally, the fire engine painted in red. But considering safety, human visibility, and auditory perception most of the fire engines painted yellow-green.

The human eye has a hundred million rod cells and only six millions of cones. Rods help with very low levels of light and are used for night vision only. Only a few bits of light activate the rods and they cannot help with a color vision that is why the human eye can see only gray color in the night. On the other hand, the cone requires a lot more light and they are used to see the color. Cones in our eyes do not work well in the dark or night. But some colors are easiest to see at night by the human eye. The human eye is more sensitive to greenish-yellow colors under dark conditions. So, the green-yellow makes the easiest to see in low lighting also.

Conclusion:

The fluorescent colors, including yellow-green, is easiest to spot in daylight.