Why are Rainbows Curved ?

Why are Rainbows Curved ?

Why is the Rainbow Curved in this publication? you can find the answer to your question.

Why is a rainbow semicircular? When we look at history, many people ask this question. In some African myths, it is emphasized that the rainbow is in the form of a snake that wraps around the Earth in a ring. But we now know that the rainbow is an optical phenomenon.

Rainbows are formed by the refraction of light rays by water droplets during rain.

So why do we see the rainbow, for example, curved into an arc rather than a vertical colored stripe?

The shape of the rainbow is revealed by the shape of the water droplets where sunlight is refracted. And the water droplets are more or less spherical (round). A white ray of sunlight passing through and refracted within the drop is transformed into a series of colored funnels placed one inside the other facing the observer. The outer funnel is red, orange is added inside, followed by yellow, then green, etc., ending in inner violet. Thus, each drop forms a whole rainbow.

Of course, the rainbow from a drop is weak, and it is impossible to see it separately in nature since there are many drops on the rain screen. The rainbow we see in the sky is made up of countless drops. Each drop forms a series of intertwined colored funnels (or cones). But only one colored ray enters the rainbow from a single drop. The observer's eye is a common point where the colored rays from many drops intersect. For example, all red rays emanating from different drops but coming at the same angle and hitting the observer's eye form a red arc of the rainbow. All orange and other colored rays also form arcs. That's why the rainbow is round in shape.

Why are Rainbows Curved ?

                        

Two people standing next to each other see their own rainbow! Because every moment the sun's rays break into new drops, a rainbow is formed. Raindrops are falling, the place of the falling drop is occupied by another and manages to send its colored rays to the rainbow, then to the next, and so on.

The type of rainbow - the width of the arcs, the presence of individual hues, their location and brightness, the location of the additional arcs - is very dependent on the size of the raindrops. The larger the raindrops, the narrower and brighter the rainbow.

The peculiarity of large drops is the presence of saturated red color in the main rainbow. Numerous additional arcs also have bright colors and are directly adjacent to the main rainbows, without gaps. The smaller the droplets, the wider the rainbow and paler with an orange or yellow rim. Additional arcs are further apart from each other and from the main rainbows. Thus, by the appearance of the rainbow, the size of the raindrops that make up this rainbow can be approximated.

The type of rainbow also depends on the shape of the drops. When dropped into the air, large drops flatten and lose their sphericity. The stronger the flattening of the droplets, the smaller the radius of the rainbow they form.

We are used to seeing the rainbow as a bow. In fact, this arc is only one part of a multicolored circle. In its entirety, this natural phenomenon can only be observed at high altitudes, for example, from an airplane.