When You Read From a Printed Page You're Seeing Reflected Light That Is

A rainbow is a multicolored arc made by lite striking water droplets.

The most familiar type rainbow is produced when sunlight strikes raindrops in front of a viewer at a precise angle (42 degrees). Rainbows can also be viewed around fog, body of water spray, or waterfalls.

A rainbow is an optical illusion—it does not actually exist in a specific spot in the sky. The appearance of a rainbow depends on where y'all're standing and where the lord's day (or other source of low-cal) is shining.

The dominicus or other source of light is commonly behind the person seeing the rainbow. In fact, the eye of a primary rainbow is the antisolar bespeak, the imaginary point exactly opposite the sun.

Rainbows are the event of the refraction and reflection of light. Both refraction and reflection are phenomena that involve a change in a wave'due south direction. A refracted moving ridge may announced "bent", while a reflected wave might seem to "bounciness dorsum" from a surface or other wavefront.

Light inbound a water droplet is refracted. It is then reflected past the back of the droplet. Every bit this reflected lite leaves the droplet, information technology is refracted again, at multiple angles.

The radius of a rainbow is determined past the water aerosol' refractive index. A refractive alphabetize is the mensurate of how much a ray of light refracts (bends) every bit information technology passes from one medium to some other—from air to water, for example. A droplet with a high refractive index will help produce a rainbow with a smaller radius. Saltwater has a college refractive index than freshwater, for case, so rainbows formed past sea spray volition be smaller than rainbows formed past rain.

Rainbows are actually full circles. The antisolar point is the centre of the circumvolve. Viewers in aircraft tin can sometimes meet these round rainbows.

Viewers on the ground tin can only see the light reflected by raindrops higher up the horizon. Because each person'due south horizon is a little different, no one actually sees a total rainbow from the ground. In fact, no one sees the same rainbow—each person has a different antisolar point, each person has a different horizon. Someone who appears beneath or about the "end" of a rainbow to one viewer will see some other rainbow, extending from his or her ain horizon.

Colors

A rainbow shows upward as a spectrum of low-cal: a ring of familiar colors that include red, orange, yellowish, green, blueish, and violet. The name "Roy Chiliad. Biv" is an easy way to retrieve the colors of the rainbow, and the gild in which they appear: red, orange, yellow, light-green, blue, indigo, and violet. (Many scientists, nonetheless, retrieve "indigo" is too shut to blueish to be truly distinguishable.)

White calorie-free is how our eyes perceive all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. Sunlight appears white.

When sunlight hits a rain droplet, some of the low-cal is reflected. The electromagnetic spectrum is made of light with many dissimilar wavelengths, and each is reflected at a different angle. Thus, spectrum is separated, producing a rainbow.

Red has the longest wavelength of visible light, about 650 nanometers. It usually appears on the outer part of a rainbow's arch. Violet has the shortest wavelength (about 400 nanometers) and it usually appears on the inner arch of the rainbow.

At their edges, the colors of a rainbow actually overlap. This produces a sheen of "white" light, making the within of a rainbow much brighter than the outside.

Visible light is only part of a rainbow. Infrared radiations exists just beyond visible blood-red low-cal, while ultraviolet is simply beyond violet. There are also radio waves (beyond infrared), x-rays (across ultraviolet), and gamma radiation (across x-rays). Scientists use an musical instrument called a spectrometer to report these invisible parts of the rainbow.

Rainbow Variations

Glow

The atmosphere opposite a rainbow, facing the sun, is often glowing. This glow appears when rain or drizzle is falling between the viewer and the sun.

The glow is formed past low-cal passing through raindrops, not reflected by them. Some scientists call this glow a cypher-club glow.

Double Rainbow

Sometimes, a viewer may see a "double rainbow." In this phenomenon, a faint, secondary rainbow appears to a higher place the main one.

Double rainbows are acquired by light being reflected twice inside the raindrop. Equally a result of this 2d reflection, the spectrum of the secondary rainbow is reversed: cherry is on the inner section of the curvation, while violet is on the exterior.

Higher-Order Rainbows

Low-cal can be reflected from many angles inside the raindrop. A rainbow'due south "order" is its reflective number. (Principal rainbows are first-order rainbows, while secondary rainbows are second-order rainbows.) Higher-order rainbows announced to viewers facing both toward and away from the sunday.

A third rainbow, for example, appears to a viewer facing the sunday. Tertiary rainbows are third-lodge rainbows—the 3rd reflection of light. Their spectrum is the aforementioned as the primary rainbow.

Third rainbows are difficult to meet for three main reasons. First, the viewer is looking toward the sun—the heart of a tertiary rainbow is not the antisolar point, it'due south the sun itself. Second, tertiary rainbows are much, much fainter than primary or secondary rainbows. Finally, tertiary rainbows are much, much broader than primary and secondary rainbows.

Quaternary rainbows are fourth-guild rainbows, and likewise appear to viewers facing the sun. They are even fainter and broader than tertiary rainbows.

Across quaternary rainbows, higher-order rainbows are named by their cogitating number, or order. In the lab, scientists have detected a 200th-order rainbow.

Twinned Rainbow

A twinned rainbow is two distinct rainbows produced from a single endpoint. Twinned rainbows are the result of lite hitting an air mass with different sizes and shapes of water droplets—ordinarily a raincloud with unlike sizes and shapes of raindrops.

Supernumerary Rainbow

A supernumerary rainbow is a thin, pastel-colored arc commonly appearing below the inner arch of a rainbow. Supernumeraries are the result of the complex interaction of light rays in an air mass with small, similarly sized water aerosol.

In supernumerary germination, reflected rays interact in ways called constructive and destructive interference. Lite is either reinforced (constructive interference) or canceled out (destructive interference). Interference is responsible for the lighter hues and narrower bands of supernumeraries.

Reflection Rainbow

A reflection rainbow appears higher up a body of h2o. A principal rainbow is reflected by the h2o, and the reflected light produces a reflection rainbow. Reflection rainbows do non mirror the primary rainbow—they often announced to stretch above it.

Reflected Rainbow

A reflected rainbow appears directly on the surface of a body of water. A reflected rainbow is created by rays of lite reflected by the water surface, subsequently the rays have take passed through h2o droplets. Reflected rainbows to not appear to form a circle with a chief rainbow, although their endpoints seem to meet in an almond-shaped formation.

Red Rainbow

A red rainbow, also called a monochrome rainbow, usually appears at sunrise or sunset. During this fourth dimension, sunlight travels further in the atmosphere, and shorter wavelengths (blue and violet) have been scattered. Simply the long-wavelength ruby colors are visible in this rainbow.

Fogbow

A fogbow is formed in much the same way equally a primary rainbow. Calorie-free in a fogbow is refracted and reflected by fog (water droplets suspended in air). A fogbow seen in the clouds is called a cloudbow.

Because the water droplets in fog are much smaller than raindrops, fogbows have much fainter colors than rainbows. In fact, some fogbows have few detectable colors at all and appear generally white, with a cherry tinge on their outer border and a bluish tinge on their inner edge.

Moonbow

A moonbow, also called a lunar rainbow, is a rainbow produced past low-cal reflected by the Moon.

The Moon itself does non emit light, of course. Moonlight is reflected sunlight, every bit well as some starlight and "Earthlight." Because moonlight is so much fainter than sunlight, moonbows are dimmer than rainbows.

Rainbows in Myth

Rainbows are part of the myths of many cultures around the earth. Rainbows are often portrayed equally bridges between people and supernatural beings. In Norse mythology, for example, a rainbow chosen the Bifrost connects World with Asgard, where the gods live. In the ancient behavior of Japan and Gabon, rainbows were the bridges that human ancestors took to descend to the planet.

The shape of a rainbow also resembles the bow of an archer. Hindu culture teaches that the god Indra uses his rainbow bow to shoot arrows of lightning.

Rainbows are usually positive symbols in myths and legends. In the Epic of Gilgamesh and, later, the Bible, the rainbow is a symbol from a deity (the goddess Ishtar and the Hebrew God) to never again destroy the Earth with floods.

Sometimes, however, rainbows are negative symbols. In parts of Burma, for instance, rainbows are considered demons that threaten children. Tribes throughout the Amazon bowl associate rainbows with disease.

Peradventure the most famous piece of mythology surrounding rainbows is the Irish gaelic legend of the pot of gold at the finish of a rainbow. The gold is guarded by a tricky leprechaun, just—considering no one sees the aforementioned rainbow and rainbows don't "cease" (they're circles)—no one ever finds the gilded or the magical beast.

Rainbow Flags

Rainbow flags normally announced as stripes (bands) of at least five dissimilar colors. Rainbow flags have long represented groups championing diverseness, respect, and inclusiveness.

The Wiphala is a type of rainbow flag. It is a symbol of communities ethnic to the Andes Mountains, stretching from modern-24-hour interval Ecuador to Republic of chile. A Wiphala has been an official flag of Republic of bolivia since 2009, when the nation elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales. The Wiphala features a diagonal patchwork design with squares in different rainbow colors. Unlike arrangements of patchwork squares represent different Andean communities.

The Buddhist flag, designed in the 19th century, is flown by Buddhists around the world. It is a vertical organisation of half-dozen bands, each representing a different aspect of Buddhism, from kindness to moderation, blessings to wisdom.

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast, a community on Russia'south edge with China, is represented past a 7-banded rainbow flag. The vii bands symbolize the seven branches of a menorah.

The most familiar rainbow flag may be the banner representing the movement supporting civil rights for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. The different colors of the "LGBT pride" flag represent the diverse community itself, also as different aspects associated with each color. Orange, for example, symbolizes health and healing, while dark-green symbolizes nature.

Somewhere, over the ocular dispersion of the electromagnetic spectrum . . .

Photograph by David Armstrong, MyShot

Rainbows About and Far
Some scientists think rainbows besides exist on Titan, one of the moons of the planet Saturn. Titan has a moisture surface and humid clouds. The sun is as well visible from Titan, so it has all the ingredients for rainbows.

Noun

a large volume of air that is mostly consequent, horizontally, in temperature and humidity.

ancestor

Noun

organism from whom one is descended.

antisolar point

Noun

imaginary bespeak directly oppsite the lord's day.

arc

Substantive

function of the outline of a circle.

archer

Substantive

person who uses a bow and pointer.

aspect

Noun

view or interpretation.

Noun

layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body.

Noun

a dip or depression in the surface of the land or ocean floor.

bow

Substantive

curved piece of woods or plastic with its ends held together by a string.

Buddhist

Substantive

person who follows the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha).

civil rights

Plural Noun

set of fundamental freedoms guaranteed to all individuals, such as participation in the political system, power to own property, and due process and equal protection under the law.

Noun

visible mass of tiny water droplets or water ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere.

constructive interference

Noun

combination of ii or more waves of equal frequency and phase, resulting in their mutual reinforcement and producing a unmarried amplitude equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the individual waves.

deity

Noun

very holy or spiritual being.

demon

Noun

evil spirit or magical beast.

destructive interference

Noun

combination two waves of equal frequency and opposite phase, resulting in their cancellation.

distinguish

Verb

to differentiate or recognize as unlike.

drizzle

Noun

very light pelting.

Earthlight

Noun

faint illumination of the part of the moon not illuminated by sunlight, caused past the reflection of light from Earth. Also called earthshine.

electromagnetic spectrum

Substantive

continous band of all kinds of radiation (heat and light).

Noun

clouds at footing level.

gamma radiations

Noun

very high-frequency electromagnetic radiation.

Hindu

Noun

faith of the Indian subcontinent with many unlike sub-types, nigh based around the thought of "daily morality."

Noun

line where the World and the heaven seem to meet.

humid

Describing word

air containing a large corporeality of water vapor.

inclusive

Adjective

containing may unlike parts or elements.

Adjective

characteristic to or of a specific place.

indigo

Substantive

blazon of plant used to produce a night blue dye. Indigo likewise refers to the color and dye itself.

infrared radiations

Noun

part of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths longer than visible light only shorter than microwaves.

legendary

Adjective

famous, heroic, or celebrated.

leprechaun

Noun

magical dwarf and hider of treasure in Irish mythology.

LGBT

adjective, noun

(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) having to exercise with the queer customs, particularly as it relates to sexuality, gender identity, gender, race, form, ability, and historic period.

Noun

sudden electrical belch from clouds.

lunar

Adjective

having to practise with World'south moon or the moons of other planets.

menorah

Noun

candle-holder, traditionally with seven branches, used in Jewish rituals and emblematic of Jewish faith.

Noun

clouds at ground-level, merely with greater visibility than fog.

monochrome

Adjective

having to do with different shades of the same color.

myth

Substantive

fable or traditional story.

nanometer

Noun

(nm) billionth of a meter.

Norse mythology

Noun

stories, traditions, and beliefs of ancient Scandinavia.

optical illusion

Noun

image seen by the eyes that is different than what is really there.

phenomena

Plural Noun

(singular: phenomenon) any appreciable occurrence or feature.

radio wave

Substantive

electromagnetic wave with a wavelength betwixt i millimeter and 30,000 meters, or a frequency between 10 kilohertz and 300,000 megahertz.

radius

Substantive

ray extending from the center of a circumvolve or sphere to its surface or circumference.

Noun

multicolored arc produced by sunlight striking raindrops.

raindrop

Noun

driblet of liquid from the atmosphere.

reflection

Substantive

return of low-cal, sound, or oestrus later on being bounced off a surface.

refraction

Substantive

seeming angle of low-cal by liquids, solids, or gases.

refractive index

Noun

measure of the extent to which a substance slows downwards low-cal waves passing through it. The refractive index of a substance is equal to the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to its speed in that substance. Its value determines the extent to which light is refracted when inbound or leaving the substance.

reinforce

Verb

to strengthen with boosted support.

Roy G. Biv

Noun

device used to remember the colors of the visible spectrum: blood-red, orange, yellowish, dark-green, bluish, indigo, violet.

spectrometer

Noun

device for measuring the frequency, wavelength, and refraction of radiation.

spectrum

Verb

continuous ring of material with each piece differing in modest amounts from the slice before and after it.

spray

Noun

minor amounts of liquid water falling through the air, but not coming from clouds equally rain or fog.

sunlight

Substantive

visible radiations from the dominicus.

supernatural

Describing word

having to do with powers not explained by scientific discipline or nature.

supernumerary rainbow

Substantive

series of narrow, faint, pastel-colored rainbows beneath the inner arch of a rainbow. Also chosen a stacker rainbow.

tertiary

Adjective

having to practice with a third rank, club, or view.

tinge

Noun

slight tint or color.

ultraviolet

Adjective

having to practise with light of short wavelengths, invisible to the human centre.

visible lite spectrum

Noun

light and colors that can be seen past human beings.

Noun

period of water descending steeply over a cliff. Also called a cascade.

moving ridge

Noun

vibrations (oscillations) effectually a fixed location, usually involving a transfer of energy from one point to another.

wavelength

Noun

the distance between the crests of two waves.

Wiphala

Noun

square emblem, featuring a diagonal patchwork design, representing indigenous peoples of the Andes.

X-ray

Noun

radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum with a very curt wavelength and very high energy.

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Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/rainbow/

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