One of the most stunning natural phenomena that occur when sunlight refracts and reflects off water droplets in the air, creating a spectrum of colors, are RAINBOWS.
Rainbows are formed when sunlight passes through water droplets in the air and is refracted (bent) and reflected inside the droplets before emerging out the other side. This process separates the light into its different colors, which we see as a rainbow.
The process of rainbow formation can be broken down into several steps:
• SUNLIGHT ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE:
When sunlight passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, the process starts. A spectrum of colours, including violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red( VIBGYOR ) make up sunlight.
• REFRACTION OF LIGHT:
When the light encounters a water droplet, it refracts as it enters the droplet. This causes the light to slow down and change direction.
• REFLECTION OF LIGHT:
Once the light is inside the droplet, it is reflected off the inside surface of the droplet. This causes the light to change direction again.
• REFRACTION OF LIGHT AGAIN:
As the light exits the droplet, it is refracted again, causing it to bend one more time.
• SEPARATION OF COLORS:
The light eventually leaves the droplet and separates into its various colours. The reason behind this is that as light enters the droplet, each colour bends at a slightly different angle.
Due to their varying wavelengths, the various colours of sunlight are bent at slightly different angles as they pass through the droplet.Violet has the shortest wavelength of visible light, while red has the longest. The most and least refracted colours of light are violet and red, respectively.
• FORMATION OF A RAINBOW:
The separated colors of light then reach our eyes, creating the iconic arc-shaped rainbow that we see in the sky. The order of colors in a rainbow is always the same: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
Overall, the formation of a rainbow is a beautiful process that involves interaction between sunlight and water droplets, which causes the light to refract, reflect, and separate into different beautiful colors.
So that’s all about How is Rainbow formed?