Rainbows

A rainbow is a circular line of colors from the spectrum. Rainbows are formed when light sunshines onto suspended droplets of moisture in the air. The light is refracted, reflected internally and then refracted again. A rainbow spans a continous spectrum of colors which go from red on the outer part to violet on the inner arch. Rainbows can form anywhere water droplets in air are shone on by sunlight which has to be shining behind the person at a low altitude angle. Under certain circumstances people should be able to see two rainbows a primary rainbow and a secondary rainbow as shown in the picture to the right. It all depends on the angle of ray entry into the water drops. This is related to the unit we are taking on light which tells a little bit about rainbows. In this unit we also learn that the who sky is actually a rainbow but only parts of it can be seen by one observer. We also learned this is the reason to why you can never approach a rainbow. So for all those that believe you can go to the end of a rainbow and find a pot of gold it isn't so. It is just a made up story told to many people. Although no one can approach a rainbow the sight of a rainbow is still unique.