If we split up the word rainbow, it gives us two words that are “rain” and “bow”, which means when light hits the “rain” drops, it gets bowed, and we get to see the magical splitting of the rainbow color in the form of an arc in the sky. Rainbows have always been associated with hope, happiness, and joy. No matter whether you’re a 5-year-old kid or a 50-year-old grown-up, if you got to spot a rainbow, that will definitely put a smile on your face. This is what rainbow color basically does to your mood and brings positive energy.
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Are The Rainbow Color Just An Optical Illusion?
Indeed, rainbows are very beautiful. But if you think that either they are real or not, then the answer is no, the rainbows are not real. They are just an optical illusion. If you happen to fly to the spot in the sky where the rainbow is formed, there will be no rainbow on that spot in reality.
Can We Touch Rainbow Color?
Light travels in the form of energy, just like sound. The rainbow color is just the split view of the white light. As we cannot touch the white light, we cannot touch rainbow.
Does Everyone See The Same Type Of The Rainbow Color?
Everyone sees different rainbows because the rainbow color you see depends on your location. You have to stand opposite the sun to see a rainbow as rainbows are formed at specific parts above the horizon, and every person’s horizon is different.
Does Rainbow Color Always Appear As a Semi-Circle?
Rainbows are actually a complete circle. What we see is just a part of it, not the whole of it. To see rainbow as a complete circle, you have to be at a certain height from the ground, such as on an airplane or a mountain.
Read Also: 7 The Rainbow Color and Their Meanings
Rainbow Color Order
The order of the rainbow color seen in a primary rainbow is Red, Orange, Yellow, Gren, Blue, Indigo and Violet. Some people do not consider indigo as a part of the rainbow because it is hardly differentiated from blue and violet. To remember the order of rainbow color, you can make some mnemonics like ROYGBIV. “R” represents red, “O” denotes orange, “Y” indicates yellow and so on.
Is Indigo Still Considered As A Part Of Rainbow Color?
There is a contradiction about indigo being the rainbow color in the United States. People include indigo as rainbow color, while in other parts of the world, they only consider 5 colors in a rainbow. So, this needs to be clarified to tell whether indigo still belongs to rainbow color team.
Do The Order Of Rainbow Color Ever Change?
The order of the rainbow in a primary rainbow is the same as ROYGBIV, appearing as red on the top and violet on the bottom. While in a secondary rainbow that does not mirror the primary one, the order here changes as VIBGYOR goes as violet at the top and red at the bottom. To conclude, the order of the rainbow color can be reversed but not changed.
The Exact Phenomenon Of Rainbow Color Formation Explained
You must be wondering how plain white light can make the rainbow, and that too at a specific spot in the sky. Well, we are going to explain the whole phenomenon to you. For the rainbow colour formation, some conditions must be fulfilled. The “sun” and the “rain drops” are two major factors in splitting white light into a rainbow. That is why you never spot a rainbow on a sunny day. Whenever the sunlight hits the raindrop (it is actually spherical, which makes splitting white light into rainbow possible), it refracts, bending a little from its original path, while entering the raindrop. When it reaches the end of the raindrop, it reflects, bounces back, and again refracts at certain angles splitting white light into a rainbow.
Why Do We See Rainbow Color?
Sunlight is actually a spectrum of a different wavelength. Whenever the light enters from one medium to another, it refracts at some specific angles. For example, in the case of a rainbow, the light changes its medium as it passes from the air (gas) to the raindrop (liquid), refracting at a certain angle. Every wavelength has a different refractive index. The shortest wavelength of visible light (blue) is refracted the most, being at the bottom of a rainbow, and the longest wavelength of visible light (red) refracts slightly seen at the top of rainbow.
Are There Only 7 Shades In Rainbow?
The 7 shades we see as the rainbow are only the wavelengths visible to the human eye. Many other wavelengths, such as ultraviolet, infrared, x-rays, and radio waves, are not visible to the naked eye.
Why Is Rainbow Color Brighter On The Inside Of a Rainbow?
At the edges of the rainbow, rainbow color overlaps, creating a sheen of white light, making it appear brighter on the inside.
Possible Discovered Orders Of Rainbow
In total, there are 200 possible discovered orders of rainbow. These order from different rainbows, such as the first order rainbow is a primary rainbow. The second-order rainbow is the secondary rainbow. The third-order rainbow is a tertiary rainbow. The fourth-order rainbow is called a quaternary rainbow. Beyond the fourth-order rainbow, higher-ordered rainbows are determined by their reflective order or number.
What Does Rainbow Represent?
Mother nature has provided us with a lot of magical aspects in the universe. Rainbows are one of them, inspiring a lot of artists with their beauty. Rainbow is always known to be a symbol of hope. As we have seen during COVID-19, kids were encouraged to draw paintings of rainbows to remember that there is still hope in the most difficult situations.
Can We See The Rainbow From The Space?
Rainbows are formed in the presence of sun, air and rain. Also, rainbows are formed at a certain point above the horizon. To view the rainbow, these conditions must be fulfilled. And it is likely to get only some of these conditions simultaneously. So, it is hard to see a rainbow from space.