Why is the Sky blue: Science, Religion, Crazy.....?

Question

Why is the Sky Blue?

1.Science: The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

2. Religion: Cause God said so.

3. People in straight jacks might believe this: Its all part of an alien cover up. Its like those disk in the cartoon Chicken Little that copied any thing behind it. The purpose for this is so the aliens can observe us, while also giving us a false sense of security that we are alone in the universe. That doesn't really explain the blue color but what do you expect from crazy people.

Answer 1

You get a star for being the 10,000th person to ask this question!

If I could give you two stars, you'd get another for your question being the most inane of the 10,000.

Thanks, lady Geo.

Answer 2

What is your question and what is a straight jack?

I think you mean straight jacket.

Just because God "deemed it so" doesn't mean there isn't a scientific explanation. God and science are not mutually exclusive.

Answer 3

1. Rayleigh scattering is, of course, the explanation. Incoming white light from the sun is scattered with an effectiveness proportional to the 4th power of the frequency (or the photon energy, which amounts to the same thing.) Although the frequency difference between red and blue light is not huge, the 4th power makes a big difference.

So the blue is scattered much more effectively than the red (or green) and the sky appears blue.

2. The nice thing about answering a question with "Goddiddit" is that it makes it unnecessary (as well as impossible) to look any further. Nice if you prefer ignorance to knowledge.

3. It's a strait (narrow) jacket, not a straight (uncurved) jacket. Everybody knows that, no?

Answer 4

Because light from the sun is scattering by atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.

Light scattering by particles depends on the relative "sizes" of the photons and the particles.

In the case of visible light, molecules are much smaller than the wavelength of light, so blue light gets scattered much more than red light.

So as light from the sun enters the atmosphere, more blue photons get reflected (not absorbed) by molecules than red photons - but then the blue photons get reflected again and again until they reach us. So the blue light comes from all over, the red light comes almost straight from the sun.

This is also why the sun looks redder at sunrise and sunset - the light's path through the atmosphere is longer when the sun is on the horizon than when it is high in the sky.

Interaction of light with the atmosphere does all sorts of weird and wonderful things that physics can explain:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hba...



However, if you really feel the need to invoke God - then you can argue that He/She/It set up the laws of physics that dictate the scattering effects.

As for crazy people - are you sure they see the sky as Blue?

Answer 5

so when you wake uo depressed you look at it and feel beter

Answer 6

Im going to have to say #1

Answer 7

God made it that color. But feel free to believe in whatever. Lol

Answer 8

1.  Science...

Mizz Kitty - God created the science on why the sky is blue, it's not like he said "and the sky is...(reaches in his hat and picks out a color crayon that is blue) BLUE!".  So in essence you can say #2...but really its a mix of #1 and #2 because God is the creator of all laws on earth, and this is one of those scientific laws, on a clear day the sky is blue because of the absorbed light that is then radiated in different directions.

Answer 9

sorry, but I was brought up to believe that it's because of magic! not that fake stage-magic, but real magick; with a 'k' and everything. in fact, a clan of druidic mages has been chanting since 1384 to defend us from space demons!  

Answer 10

1 and 2...Lady Geologist has it totally right!