WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere,
most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is
affected by the air.
However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed
blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever
direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light
from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.


As you look closer to the horizon, the sky appears much paler in color. To reach you, the
scattered blue light must pass through more air. Some of it gets scattered away again in other
directions. Less blue light reaches your eyes. The color of the sky near the horizon appears paler
or white.
COLORS OF LIGHT
Visible light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that our eyes can see. Light from the sun
or a light bulb may look white, but it is actually a combination of many colors. We can see the
different colors of the spectrum by splitting the light with a prism. The spectrum is also visible
when you see a rainbow in the sky.


The colors blend continuously into one another. At one end of the spectrum are the reds and
oranges. These gradually shade into yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The colors have
different wavelengths, frequencies, and energies. Violet has the shortest wavelength in the
visible spectrum. That means it has the highest frequency and energy. Red has the longest
wavelength, and lowest frequency and energy.
Why Are Clouds White
Why are clouds white?
Why are clouds white, you say? Clouds are white because the rain and sleet inside of the clouds
scatters all sunlight equally creating white light. The same is true for White Cloud toilet tissue. White
light bounces off of the fibers of the tissue, which scatters light equally and absorbs next to none.




Why are clouds white?
Clouds are white because they are made from cotton candy. Cotton candy is composed mostly of
sugar and spice and everything nice. Once the sugar is spun out of control it flies up into the
atmosphere that is filled with angels and reindeer and small ships on their way to Roswell.
Why are sunsets red?
Sunsets are red because violets are blue and poets have to have something to say to you. No,
actually, sunsets are red because by the time the sun is on the earth's horizon it has burned all the
way down to the wick the way a candle does and is about the expire.




No, really, why are sunsets red?
Sunsets are red because by the time the sun is on the horizon, all of the blue light has already
scattered and been absorbed by the atmosphere and all that is left is the red and yellow light
which has longer wavelengths and shelf life than blue does.

No, I really want to know why are sunsets red.
Actually, General Electric has bought the intellectual rights to all of the sunsets for the rest of
this century. Soon they are planning on placing a gigantic billboard next to each evening's sunset
acknowledging that they are indeed the sunset's corporate sponsor and thanking each and every
one of us for using General Electric products. "This sunset brought to you by General Electric.
GE, we bring good things to light."
Why is the sky blue: Discussion
Transmitted light (from the sun, light bulbs, fire, etc) is made up of a spectrum of colors. The longest
wavelengths of light are on the red end of the spectrum and the shortest wavelengths are on the
blue/violet end of the spectrum.




When transmitted light such as sunlight enters our atmosphere it collides with the oxygen and
nitrogen atoms. The color with the shorter wavelength is scattered more by this collision. Because
violet and blue are the shortest wavelengths the sky appears to be violet / blue. But because our eyes
are more sensitive to blue light than they are violet light, we perceive the sky as blue.
Our eyes contain thousand of rods and cones, which are the receptors for light. Whenever one of the
3 Stooges pokes you in the eye you see a giant blue spot. This is because the blue receptors have been
activated. Blue is one of the primary colors and thus more easily activated and seen by our eyes.
Blue is also how I feel when my baby leaves and my hound dog dies. Also, how I feel when the cops
pull me over and I see their blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror. Then, again, blue is the color
of the K-mart special, so this color isn't all bad.

Why is the sky blue: Summary
So, why is the sky blue? It is because blue light from the sun strikes the air molecules and scatters
and our eyes perceive it as blue.

Why is the sky blue: Short Summary
Why is the sky blue, you ask? Blue in sunlight collides with air molecules and our eyes see it as blue.

Why is the sky blue: Condensed
Sunlight collides with air, scatters blue wavelengths.

Why is the sky blue: Ultra-Condensed.
You are seeing things. Stop asking.

Rainbow Formation
One of nature's most splendid masterpieces is the rainbow. A rainbow is an excellent demonstration of the
dispersion of light and one more piece of evidence that visible light is composed of a spectrum of
wavelengths, each associated with a distinct color. To view a rainbow, your back must be to the sun as you
look at an approximately 40 degree angle above the ground into a region of the atmosphere with suspended
droplets of water or even a light mist. Each individual droplet of water acts as a tiny prism that both
disperses the light and reflects it back to your eye. As you sight into the sky, wavelengths of light associated
with a specific color arrive at your eye from the collection of droplets. The net effect of the vast array of
droplets is that a circular arc of ROYGBIV is seen across the sky. But just exactly how do the droplets of
water disperse and reflect the light? And why does the pattern always appear as ROYGBIV from top to
bottom? These are the questions that we will seek to understand on this page of The Physics Classroom
Tutorial. To understand these questions, we will need to draw upon our understanding of refraction, internal
reflection and dispersion.

The Path of Light Through a Droplet
A collection of suspended water droplets in the atmosphere serves as a refractor of light. The water
represents a medium with a different optical density than the surrounding air. Light waves refract when they
cross over the boundary from one medium to another. The decrease in speed upon entry of light into a
water droplet causes a bending of the path of light towards the normal. And upon exiting the droplet, light
speeds up and bends away from the normal. The droplet causes a deviation in the path of light as it enters
and exits the drop.
There are countless paths by which light rays from the sun can
pass through a drop. Each path is characterized by this bending
towards and away from the normal. One path of great
significance in the discussion of rainbows is the path in which
light refracts into the droplet, internally reflects, and then
refracts out of the droplet. The diagram at the right depicts such
a path. A light ray from the sun enters the droplet with a slight
downward trajectory. Upon refracting twice and reflecting once,
the light ray is dispersed and bent downward towards an
observer on earth's surface. Other entry locations into the
droplet may result in similar paths or even in light continuing
through the droplet and out the opposite side without significant
internal reflection. But for the entry location shown in the
diagram at the right, there is an optimal concentration of light
exiting the airborne droplet at an angle towards the ground. As
in the case of the refraction of light through prisms with nonparallel sides, the refraction of light at two
boundaries of the droplet results in the dispersion of light into a spectrum of colors. The shorter wavelength
blue and violet light refract a slightly greater amount than the longer wavelength red light. Since the
boundaries are not parallel to each other, the double refraction results in a distinct separation of the sunlight
into its component colors.
The angle of deviation between the incoming light rays from the
sun and the refracted rays directed to the observer's eyes is
approximately 42 degrees for the red light. Because of the
tendency of shorter wavelength blue light to refract more than
red light, its angle of deviation from the original sun rays is
approximately 40 degrees. As shown in the diagram, the red
light refracts out of the droplet at a steeper angle toward an
observer on the ground. There are a multitude of paths by which
the original ray can pass through a droplet and subsequently
angle towards the ground. Some of the paths are dependent
upon which part of the droplet the incident rays contact. Other
paths are dependent upon the location of the sun in the sky and
the subsequent trajectory of the incoming rays towards the
droplet. Yet the greatest concentration of outgoing rays is found at these 40-42 degree angles of deviation.
At these angles, the dispersed light is bright enough to result in a rainbow display in the sky. Now that we
understand the path of light through an individual droplet, we can approach the topic of how the rainbow
forms.

The Formation of the Rainbow
A rainbow is most often viewed as a circular arc in the sky. An observer on the ground observes a half-circle
of color with red being the color perceived on the outside or top of the bow. Those who are fortunate enough
to have seen a rainbow from an airplane in the sky may know that a rainbow can actually be a complete
circle. Observers on the ground only view the top half of the circle since the bottom half of the circular arc is
prevented by the presence of the ground (and the rather obvious fact that suspended water droplets aren't
present below ground). Yet observers in an airborne plane can often look both upward and downward to
view the complete circular bow.
The circle (or half-circle) results because there are a collection of suspended droplets in the atmosphere that
are capable concentrating the dispersed light at angles of deviation of 40-42 degrees relative to the original
path of light from the sun. These droplets actually form a circular arc, with each droplet within the arc
dispersing light and reflecting it back towards the observer. Every droplet within the arc is refracting and
dispersing the entire visible light spectrum (ROYGBIV). As described above, the red light is refracted out of a
droplet at steeper angles towards the ground than the blue light. Thus, when an observer sights at a steeper
angle with respect to the ground, droplets of water within this line of sight are refracting the red light to the
observer's eye. The blue light from these same droplets is directed at a less steep angle and is directed
along a trajectory that passes over the observer's head. Thus, it is the red light that is seen when looking at
the steeper angles relative to the ground. Similarly, when sighting at less steep angles, droplets of water
within this line of sight are directing blue light to the observer's eye while the red light is directed
downwards at a more steep angle towards the observer's feet. This discussion explains why it is the red light
that is observed at the top and on the outer perimeter of a rainbow and the blue light that is observed on
the bottom and the inner perimeter of the rainbow.



Rainbows are not limited to the dispersion of light by raindrops. The splashing of water at the base of a
waterfall caused a mist of water in the air that often results in the formation of rainbows. A backyard water
sprinkler is another common source of a rainbow. Bright sunlight, suspended droplets of water and the
proper angle of sighting are the three necessary components for viewing one of nature's most splendid
masterpieces.