Rainbow how is it formed

How are rainbows formed? It's all in the geometry Rainbows are formed when sunlight is scattered from raindrops into the eyes of an observer. The lower the sun in the sky the more of an arc of a rainbow the viewer will see Rain, fog or some other source of water droplets must be in front of the viewer The size of the raindrops does not directly affect the geometry of a rainbow, but mist or fog tends to disperse the effect more see fogbows.

You might also like. The sky appears blue to the human eye as the short waves of blue light are scattered more than the other colours in the spectrum, making the blue light more visible. Read more. Weather fronts mark the boundary or transition zone between two air masses and have an important impact upon the weather.

The colours you see when a rainbow appears are the result of light being split into its various individual wavelengths.

The sun creates rainbows when white sunlight passes through raindrops. Here, the raindrops work like tiny prisms that bend the different colors in white light, so the light spreads out into a band of colors that can be reflected back to you as a rainbow. Sunlight is made up of many wavelengths or colors of light. Every single wave of color has a different length. Usually, some of these wavelengths get bent comparatively more than others the moment the light enters the water droplet.

So when the light exits the water droplet, it is separated into all its wavelengths. We see 7 colors of the rainbow, and they are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Red light, for example, has the longest wavelength and only bends at an angle of about 42 degree. Whereas the Violet light has the shortest wavelength and bends at an angle of around 40 degrees before it exits the water droplet.

As the wavelength of red light is longer, it mostly appears on the outer edge of the rainbow. Thus, Red will be on the top and Violet on the bottom. Similarly, the other colors are also ordered as per their wavelength. Likewise, other waves of light are also reflected from the rainbow; however, these light waves are not visible to our naked human eye.

Also, these invisible rays are found to be present on both sides of the rainbow. Ultraviolet rays are shorter than violet rays, and x-rays are even shorter than ultraviolet rays. Gamma radiation normally occurs at the furthest extreme of this side of the rainbow. At the other end of the spectrum is the infrared radiation and radio waves. A professional writer, editor, blogger, copywriter, and a member of the International Association of Professional Writers and Editors, New York.

He has been part of many reputed domestic and global online magazines and publications. An avid reader and a nature lover by heart, when he is not working, he is probably exploring the secrets of life. How do Rainbows Form? Step by Step Process of Formation of a Rainbow The formation of a rainbow is described step by step below: 1. This is why the secondary rainbow appears above the primary rainbow. The secondary rainbow will have the order of the colors reversed, too, with red on the bottom and violet on the top.

The Short Answer:. A rainbow is caused by sunlight and atmospheric conditions. Light enters a water droplet, slowing down and bending as it goes from air to denser water. The light reflects off the inside of the droplet, separating into its component wavelengths--or colors.

When light exits the droplet, it makes a rainbow. Rainbow at Suuroy, Faroese Islands. Photo by Erik Christensen. From a flying plane, you might see a full-circle rainbow.

Credit: NOAA.