The Rainbow??

Question

Why are the colours of the rainbow red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet? What makes it these specific colours?

P.S this is NOT homework, just a general question

Answer 1

it's simply how our eyes have evolved to differentiate between different wavelngths of light

the rainbow is a spectrum of light, with long wavlengths on outside, and short wavlengths on insde.

However eyes (or our brains) don't see light characterised by it's wavelength, our eyes turn this wavelength into something else, what we persive as colour.

colour and wavelength are interchangable. Physics sees wavelength, where we see colour.

dont even ask me how, the brain (and life for that matter) is way to compliated to explain

Answer 2

The color red has the lowest frequency and largest wavelength. The color violet has the highest frequency and smallest wavelength. The colors inbetween follow those same priority conditions. This information pertains to the electromagnetic spectrum.

Answer 3

In the droplets of rain, the visible light that goes through it is separated out into the separate colours that make it. That's because white light is made up of all different colours of light, but it's more complicated than that, so do GCSE physics and you'll understand! (Or high-school physics if you're in the US) x*x

Answer 4

Author Donald Ahrens in his text Meteorology Today describes a rainbow as "one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth". Indeed the traditional rainbow is sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets. The "bow" part of the word describes the fact that the rainbow is a group of nearly circular arcs of color all having a common center.

Where is the sun when you see a rainbow?

This is a good question to start thinking about the physical process that gives rise to a rainbow. Most people have never noticed that the sun is always behind you when you face a rainbow, and that the center of the circular arc of the rainbow is in the direction opposite to that of the sun. The rain, of course, is in the direction of the rainbow.

Answer 5

rainbows are arcs of coloured light formed when the Suns rays are reflected and refracted (bent) by drops of water in the air - falling rain or spray. the colours in rainbows are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. a rainbow with red on the outside and violet on the inside is called a primary bow. sometimes, the light is reflected twice and the colours are reversed in a secondary bow.

only half of a rainbow is visible, the lower half being cut off by the ground. a complete circle can be seen from an aeroplane.