• Question: scientifically how does rain and sun create a rainbow

    Asked by anon-223299 to Adam, Anastasia, Kate, Sam, Sreejita, Valerio on 19 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Sreejita Ghosh

      Sreejita Ghosh answered on 19 Nov 2019: last edited 19 Nov 2019 12:31 pm

      The rain drops behave like tiny prisms. When white light (light of all wavelengths) passes through a prism diffraction occurs. Diffraction happens when light encounters an obstacle. Due to diffraction, light of different wavelength passes through a material at different speeds and angles.

      When the raindrops in the atmosphere act as prisms the sunlight passing through these raindrop-prisms diffract and separate into the constituent light wavelengths which we broadly say as seven bands, – VIBGYOR, and thus makes a rainbow.

      [https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Lesson-4/Rainbow-Formation]

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