What colors are intermixed to create black

There are many different shades of black, but using two similar shades of black next to each other only causes problems.

Color Patterns in Crossbred Beef Cattle

Crossbreeding provides commercial cattlemen the opportunity to combine desirable characteristics of two or more breeds (breed complementarity) and increase performance due to hybrid vigor (heterosis). The single strongest argument for crossbreeding is the advantage in fertility and longevity of crossbred cows. With all of the advantages crossbreeding provides, designing an effective mating system should be a top priority for all commercial cattlemen. To plan an effective crossbreeding system, it is helpful to consider any potential detractors that are easy to address. One such detractor exists due to market discrimination against certain breeds and/or colors and lack of uniformity in color. As we increase the number and diversity of breeds involved in crosses, we decrease our ability to maintain complete control of coat color in the offspring unless it was taken into account during breed selection. With that in mind, knowing the basics of coat color inheritance can help producers know what to expect from various breed/composite pairings relative to color pattern.

The purpose of this fact sheet is to provide guidance on how to maintain a uniform color pattern when formulating crossbreeding systems. In some breeds and breed crosses, the color is highly predictable; however, in some other breeds and breed crosses, color is less predictable. A working knowledge of the inheritance of coat color will aid in planning for the color pattern to expect among calves when crossing breeds. This can be very important for evaluating marketing options either at weaning when forming large group lots or on the rail when targeting specific branded beef programs.

Many breeds of beef cattle have a fixed color pattern for that breed because selection has been placed on the color to maintain these characteristics. For example, all Hereford cattle have a red body color with a white face, all Charolais are white, and all Red Poll are red. However, other breeds may have more than one basic body color such as red or black Limousin or Simmental, and white, red or roan Shorthorn. Still other breeds have multiple colors with more unpredictable inheritance patterns, such as spotting, brindling or stripes in Longhorn and Beefmasters. Some color modifiers under genetic control have been selected against in many breeds (unless they are a feature of color in the breed, such as in Charolais or Hereford) and these features, such as “diluters” and blaze faces, are much less common than in the past, which makes the process of managing color in crossbreeding systems much easier.

Table 1 shows several common breeds of beef cattle and the predominant color pattern that is most commonly associated with each breed. Recently, some breeds with unique color attributes such as spots, blaze faces and diluter genes have selected against these traits to increase favorable perceptions by terminal buyers. Other breeds that were traditionally red have selected heavily for black coat color and are listed in Table 1 as both black and red. Introgression of other breeds (specifically Angus) into some of the Continental breeds has altered the traditional color pattern of some of these breeds. Color patterns likely to result from specific crosses are detailed in Table 2.

Table 1. Basic body colors of common cattle breeds.

Black Only	Red Only	Red and Black	White or Cream	Light hair with dark pgmented skin	Spotted	Mixed Colors and/or Roand
Angus	Hereford	Balancer	Charolais	Brahman	Belted Galloway	Beefmaster
Brangus	Lincoln Red	Gelbvieh	Braunvieh	Holstein	Bradford
Chiangus	Red Angus	Limousin	Brown Swiss	Longhorn
Red Poll	Lim-Flex	Jersey	Maine-Anjou
Santa Gertrudis	Simmental	Nellore	Shorthorn
Salers
SimAngus

Table 2. Color pattern expected in progency resulting from the matings of bulls and cows of various colors.

Sire/Dam	Black	Red	White	Light hair with dark skin	Spotted	Mixed Colors
Black	Black (or red if both carries)	Black or Red	Gray or Roan	Black-some brindling	Black-can be spotted	Mostly Black
Red	Red	Red or Roan (cream if Charolais)	Red-some brindling	Red or Black, can be spotted	Red to mixed
White	White or Cream	White to gray	Spotted to white	Mixed
Light Hair, Dark Skin	Light hair, dark skin to gray	Gray-can be spotted	Mixed
Spotted	Spotted	Mixed
Mixed Color	Mixed

When you have crossbred cows, predicting color in the offspring can be more difficult, but it helps to understand how color is inherited. All cattle basically possess one of three basic colors: black, red or white. Black is dominant to red, and both black and red are co-dominant with white. One black or red allele with a white allele would result in either a black or red roan animal. In order for an animal to be red or white, they must have two alleles for either red or white, respectively. There is another set of alleles that controls the dilution, or intensity, of that color. Dilution causes black to be muted to gray and red to be muted to yellow. As an example, Charolais cattle are red, but possess two alleles for dilution, which results in white coat color (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1994163/). This is why Charolais x Angus cattle are gray (diluted black). A very thorough discussion of coat color in cattle, including its many variations (Table 3) can be found at (http://simmental.org/site/pdf/other/olsoncolor.pdf).

In a typical sale barn market, cattle are sold with little, if any, information made available about breed or performance. Many buyers will estimate performance (growth, carcass characteristics, etc.) in relation to the reputation of the breed; thus, they may look for signs that indicate a certain breed or breeds within crossbred cattle. Other buyers may be looking to source animals that qualify for black- or red-hided branded beef programs and are willing to pay a premium for these types of calves. Some breeds are prone to producing calves that have certain distinguished color markings, such as white-faces, brindling or white stockings on their legs.

Table 3. Description of known coat color patterns in cattle (adapted from Olson 1999).

Color or color modifier	Allele	Inheritance	Description
Basic color (Extension)	Black (ED) Wild-type (E+) Red (e)	ED>E+>e	Responsible for most coat color variation, wild-type is a brownish black sometimes observed in Brown Swiss, Jersey, Brahman, and Longhorn, other coat colors are modifications of these three basic colors
Brindle	Br	Dominant to no brindling	Brindling is alternating stripes of black and red pigmentation, animals must be homozygous wild-type to observe brindling
Agouti	Patterned blackish wild-type modifier (Apb) White-bellied modifier (aw) Fawn/dorsal stripe (ai)	Incompletely understood	These alleles are typically responsible for removal of either black or red color or both in specific areas of the body, such as along the underline or back
Dilution	Charolais (Dc) Simmental (Ds) Dun (Dn)	Charolais almost completely dominant, Simmental incompletely dominant to normal coloring	Charolais dilution is strong leading to light gray, cream, or white animals, Simmental dilution (also found in Gelbvieh, Longhorn and others) is moderate dilution of red and black, and dun is strong removal of red pigment and reduced removal of black pigment
Spotting	Hereford pattern (SH) Pinzgauer pattern (SP) Piebald (s)	SH=> SP >S+>s	SH is Hereford pattern at five points when homozygous (white face only when heterozygous with non-spotting), Pinzgauer is variable white along topline and underline, piebald is irregular areas of pigment and extremities are usually white
Roan	R	Codominant with normal coloring	Homozygotes are almost completely white and heterozygotes are roan (red or black and white are codominantly expressed)
Belting	Bt	Codominant with normal coloring	White belting around midsection
Blaze	Bl	Dominant	White face, often only a blaze when heterozygous
Brockling	Bc	Ares of pigmentation within areas of white spotting produced from other modifiers
Color-sided	Cs	Partially dominant	Homozygotes will have white body with pigmented ears, muzzle and feet (such as White Park) and heterozygotes show color-sided pattern with white dorsal stripe (can be roan) and roan on head

Some general rules can be utilized to give the greatest chance of obtaining uniformly-colored groups of calves. Because red is recessive to black coat color, breeding solid red cows and bulls will produce solid red calves, which makes solid red an easy color to maintain in a crossbreeding system. However, because black is dominant to red, breeding solid black bulls and cows will often produce black calves, but may also yield red calves. To ensure a solid black calf crop, breed solid colored females (without diluter genes) to a homozygous black bull. If black baldy calves are desirable, use of Hereford bulls on black cows (or black bulls on Hereford cows) will yield the desired effect. If color extremes in the cowherd are a major concern, they can be masked by breeding through several generations to Charolais bulls.

In today’s market, where marketing branded beef is advantageous, knowledge of coat color inheritance is essential. Even with traditional marketing systems, uniformity in coat color can often provide premiums/discounts in the market place. Therefore, knowing the basics of color inheritance will help in planning crossbreeding systems that create animals suitable for desired marketing niches or branded programs.

Megan Rolf
Former Assistant Professor

Defining ‘pure’ black

Let’s start with defining the colour black.

Unsurprisingly, black is the darkest of all colours and is created by 100% absorption of visible light and the reflection of none.

In theory, a black hole is a perfect definition of black, as its gravity is so strong, light can’t escape it. But in reality, perfectly black entities almost do not exist.

Therefore, we consider objects “black” when there is an absence of reflected light.

This is why it’s hard to create a good black on an LCD screen – even when the black pixel is ‘switched off’ and has no light, the screen is still backlit. This turns the black into more of a grey colour.

The problem with blacks in printing

Black should be easy to obtain, right? Just slam all the colours up to 100 and be done with it, right?

Well, no. But also, yes.

The printing world runs on the CMYK colour palette – C – cyan, M = magenta, Y = Yellow and K = Key, or black.

These colours are mixed together as a percentage to achieve the desired colour.

For example, fire engine red is:

C – 0%

M – 84%

Y – 80%

K – 19%

Turning all these percentages up to 100% will give you black that’s kind of dull, washed out and not very black at all.

There are a few other reasons that all values set to 100% aren’t used:

• All values at 100 are a massive waste of toner, and therefore money
• Even waste from water-based and solvent-based inks has an impact on the environment
• Excess ink takes excess time to dry
• Printouts will be physically heavier from the excess ink

This results in some pretty bad packaging and adds unnecessary financial expenses to the end product.

Note: CMYK values set to 100% is called “Registration Black”. It’s used to calibrate machinery and line up different print layers.

Using blacks in printing

The CMYK printing process is a summative environment – that is to say, the final colour is a blend of 4 others.

Black can be achieved in 2 different ways.

Regular black has CMYK values of: C = 0, M = 0, Y = 0, K = 100.

Rich black uses CMYK values of: C = 60, M = 60, Y = 60, K = 100.

Some print houses adjust their 60 to another value, usually between 40 and 70.

But if black is a result of all colours being absorbed, why wouldn’t you just set all values in the CMYK colour range to 100?

Activity logistics

• Ages: As written, this activity is suited for ages 5–12.
• Time: 30 minutes–1 hour

• Safety goggles are required.
• Work with an adult.
• Read and follow all directions for the activity.
• Read all warning labels.
• Wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as goggles, safety glasses, or gloves.
• Tie back long hair, roll up sleeves, and secure loose clothing.
• Be sure to clean up and dispose of materials properly when you are finished with an activity.
• Wash your hands well before and after the activity.

Disposal: Dispose of all solid waste in the trash. The liquids can be safely disposed of down the drain with plenty of water.

What you’ll need

• 3 different brands of black markers (include both “water-soluble” and “permanent” markers)
• 3 round, flat coffee filters
• 1 piece of scrap paper
• Jar, cup, or jar lid
• Water
• Dropper or straw*

* You can use a straw as a dropper. First, dip the straw into the liquid. Place a finger over the top of the straw to make a seal. When you remove the straw from the liquid, the liquid will remain inside the straw. When you are ready to release the liquid, remove your finger from the top of the straw.

Procedure

1. Lay a flat coffee filter on top of a piece of paper on a flat surface. Choose one of the marking pens and color a solid circle in the center, about ½ inch (about 1 cm) across. With a pencil, label the filter paper with the brand of the marker you are using.
2. Lay the coffee filter over the top of the jar.
3. Drop water onto the center of your black dot. Use 5 to 10 drops, but do so slowly.
4. Observe what happens when the first drop of water hits the black dot, and when you add more drops. What happens to the black dot and its color?
5. Repeat with the other pens on the other coffee filters.
6. Fill out the data table in the downloadable PDF with what you observed for each brand of marker.

What did you observe?

Download this worksheet to record your observations for each brand of marker.

Visible light—light that the human eye can see—is made up of the wavelengths of all the colors. You may have heard of these wavelengths shortened to ROYGBIV, which stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. A red object looks red because it reflects the red wavelength of light, and the same is true for all other colors. There is no such thing as “black light wavelength,” so why do black T-shirts, black crayons, and black marking pens look black?

Modern black inks in marking pens are usually mixtures of a variety of colored pigments mixed with different liquids. In this experiment, the water moves across the paper by a force called capillary action. The water carries some parts of the ink components further than others, and the colors separate out into a range of colors. Different brands use different combinations of ink to produce their black markers, so each brand separates into its own color pattern. This chemical process is called paper chromatography.

Chemists use the process of chromatography to separate and analyze the different parts of a mixture. Different methods of chromatography use different materials (besides paper) to separate mixtures. Scientists can make chromatograms of fall leaves to show how the different leaf pigments that give plants their color break down in cooler weather. Chromatography can also be used by law enforcement in crime scene investigations, by art experts to determine original paint pigments in restoration projects, and even when analyzing food.

Some of the brands you used may not have separated into colors at all. Certain “permanent” inks use colored inks dissolved in a different solvent, like an alcohol. You can repeat this experiment with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to see if the inks separate.

So, is black a color? Each of the colored components in a black ink absorbs a portion of the visible light spectrum wavelengths. If all the visible light has been absorbed by the components in an ink mixture or in any other object, no light bounces off the object and hits our eyes. In this case, we see no color and we describe the object as being black. Scientists have developed a material called Vantablack that absorbs 99.965% of visible light. Vantablack is considered the blackest black in existence!

This activity is adapted from an activity that originally appeared in the Celebrating Chemistry issue for National Chemistry Week 2015.