Liz Zelencich

Program Manager

The
Rainbow
Connection
When the sun is shining and there
is rain as well you may see a
rainbow in the sky.
As sunlight passes through the
water droplets, it is bent and split
into the colours of the rainbow.
Sunlight is known as visible or
white light and is actually a mixture
of all visible colours. Rainbows
appear in seven colours because
water droplets break white sunlight
into the seven colours of the
spectrum (red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet).
Here's an easy way to remember
the rainbow colours and their order:
Just remember this: ROY G BIV.
The letters stand for the rst letter
of each colour.
R is for red.
O is for orange.
Y is for yellow.
G is for green.
B is for blue.
I is for indigo.
V is for violet.

s
s
s
s
s

s
s
s
s

s

ss

A rainbow is a multi-coloured arc that forms in the sky.

Rainbows are created by both reection and refraction
(bending) of light in water droplets in the atmosphere,
which results in a spectrum of light appearing.
A rainbow is in fact a full circle of light. However, due
to most people viewing a rainbow from the ground we
only see a semi-circle or arc of the rainbow.
A rainbow is not an object; it cannot be approached or
physically touched.
No two people see the same rainbow; in fact even
our individual eyes see slightly different rainbows. If
someone appears to be standing under a rainbow you
can see, they will see a different rainbow at the same
angle but further away.
Rainbows can be seen not just in rain but also mist,
spray, fog, and dew, whenever there are water drops in
the air and light shining from behind at the right angle.
Sir Isaac Newton identied the seven colours of the
visible spectrum that together make up white light.
Most rainbows we see will be a "primary rainbow"
whereby the colour red can be seen on the outer edge
through to violet on the inner edge.
The sky within a primary rainbow is brighter than the
sky outside of the arc. This is due to the fact that the
millions of droplets needed to make a rainbow are
spherical and overlap to create white light. At the edge
however, these coloured discs don't overlap display
their individual colours producing the rainbow arc.
A "double rainbow" is where a second, much fainter
arc can be seen outside of the primary arc. This is
caused by the light reecting twice inside the water
droplets. As a result of this double reection the colours
of the second arc are reversed, with violet on the outer
edge and red on the inner edge.
A "fogbow" is formed by cloud and fog droplets,
they are almost white with very faint colours visible.
Fogbows are quite large and much broader than a
rainbow.

Other Lights in the Sky Mirage

A rainbow is just one type of optical wonder in the sky
that is created by light. Here are a few others.
Moonbow - a moonbow or lunar rainbow is created
by light from the moon instead of the sun. Moonbows
are usually harder to see since the moon doesn't give
off as much light. They are common around waterfalls
where there are lots of drops of water in the air, even
when it hasn't been raining.

Halo

A halo can appear around either the sun or the moon

and usually happens when there are ice crystals in
clouds very high up in the sky. Light is refracted and also
reected by the crystals of ice and a glowing ring, called
a halo, is formed around the source of the light. Above is
a picture of a sun halo.

You've all seen rainbows on those days where it's raining and the sun's out at the same time. But what about
those times when you see a rainbow-like halo around the sun or moon? It's the same physics, really. The halos
(or, sometimes known as "sundogs" around the sun) are usually seen when there are high cirrus clouds overhead.
Those clouds are made of tiny ice crystals, which will refract (bend) the sunlight much like a prism will and voila.
You have a rainbow halo around the sun. It works the same way with moonlight, and it's usually a sign that rain is
on the way, as high clouds usually signal the coming of a storm front. Sometimes the rainbow isn't in the form of
a halo, but just colours that just streak across the clouds -- the ice crystals in that cloud were at just the correct
angle from the sun to produce a prism effect, known as iridescence or re rainbows.

Directions:

Make a paper dice and colour each face of the dice with the colours listed below. Roll the
dice and record how many times each colour wins.
I predict that the colour ___________________ wins the race.

Red

Riding a
Rainbow

I'll ride on a rainbow

to soar through the sky.
I'll ride on a kite
as it ies way up high.
I'll ride on a dragon.
I'll ride a balloon.
I'll ride on a rocket
and ride to the moon.
I'll ride on the wind
and the sun and the stars,
on oating bananas
and ying guitars.
I'll ride on a cloud
and a unicorn too.
I'll ride in the seat
of a magical shoe.
But why would I ride
on the sun and the stars?
It's so much more fun
than just riding in cars.
- Kenn Nesbitt

A mirage works sort of like a mirror. It is a reection of a

part of the sky and it happens when light moves from air
of one temperature to a very different temperature (such
as cool air to very warm air). The rays of light bend (or
refract) in a way that causes an image of a different part
of the sky than what is normal. A mirage can appear on
the ground or above the ground. Have you ever ridden
in a car on a hot summer day and thought that the road
ahead of you was wet? As you got closer the "puddle"
you thought you saw probably disappeared. That is a
common road mirage, like in the picture below.

Orange

Yellow

Use your graph

Write the colour words to answer these questions.
Which colour or colours won the race?
What colour lost the race?

Green

Blue

Purple

What place did the colour you wrote at the top of the
paper come in?
Check a neighbours race. What colour won that race?

Finding a rainbow: NIE features

During your science lessons, you can make your
Activity:
own rainbows. Here are a few ideas:
Show children some glass prisms. A prism is
a transparent, solid glass, with three distinct
ends. The prism separates white light passing
through it into individual parts, the colours of
the rainbow. Hold a prism to light and observe
the colours. It will work best against a white
background.
Use a mirror in water. Place a small mirror in a
glass or water. Place the glass of water so the
sun will shine on the mirror. Turn the glass until
the rainbow is reected against the wall. Find
the colours of the rainbow.
Spray a ne mist of water from a hose. If
weather permits, go outdoors and stand with
your back to the sun. A rainbow will appear in
the ne spray of the water.

Using the weather forecast reported in

todays newspaper, write down the following
information: your areas expected temperatures
(high and low); precipitation (rain, snow, etc.);
air pressure (high or low); and wind speed (if
any). Create a chart to record this information
each day for a week. Also record the actual
conditions that occurred each day. How
accurate was each forecast?

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