Nicole+Peterson

HOW DO R A I N B O W S   FORM?

HOW IT HAPPENS: Rainbows are prims, prisms are transparent opitcal elements with flat polished surfaces that refract light. Rainbows seperate white light into a spectrum, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet are the seven colors of the spectrum. Ever wonder why light hits a surface thats shiny and it hits you in the face and blinds you temporarily? Well see light can be bent and reflected, which occurs alot more than you think, and this is happening to form a rainbow. When it rains water droplets come down but after its done raining the water droplets linger in the air. The sun comes out and reflects and bends off of the water droplets, the sun hits the droplets with white light. The next step is the white light acts as a prism when it hits the water drolets and projects the seven colors into a rainbow. All this happens simutaniously, so you can see a rainbow.



COOL FACTS: Do you know that you will never get to the end of a rainbow? Whys that, because a rainbow is a circle so therefore the light you see will keep reflecting and bending with you as you move. Another cool fact is that no two people will ever see the same rainbow. Thats because the water drops are constantly moving so it is always changing, so one second it will be different from the next.

works cited: [] http://www.deltatech.com/rv/rainbows.html