THE RAINBOW

 

 

Many people have always wondered how the rainbow they see in the sky came to be, how it was made and how it gets it beautiful colors in the sky.

In this post, I am going to explain all about the rainbow we see in the sky.

DEFINITION OF RAINBOW

A rainbow is an arc of light separated into bands of color that appears when the Sun’s rays are refracted and reflected by

drops of mist or rain.

The colors of the rainbow are conventionally said to be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

FORMATION OF A RAINBOW

The Sunlight we see is made up of many colors i.e. be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. When a ray of sunlight enters a raindrop, the light refracts (bends). Different colors bend slightly different amounts, so the colors spread out. Much of the light reflects from the back of the raindrop, and then refracts again as it exits the raindrop. Red light refracts the least; violet light refracts the most. The other colors (not shown here) would fan out between red and violet to form the familiar rainbow.

THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO SEE A RAINBOW

The Sun must be shining behind you, and it must be raining too in front of you. If and only if the Sun and the rain are at the correct angle with your line of sight, you will see a rainbow.

 FORMATION OF A DOUBLE RAINBOW

In rare occasion light rays are reflected twice inside the raindrop before it gets out. The double internal reflection can create another rainbow which is not as bright as the other it is called a secondary rainbow. It surrounds the brighter one (primary rainbow). The secondary rainbow is faint because some light is lost at each reflection within the raindrop.