Rainbow really. All about the rainbow as a physical phenomenon

Ecology

In many cultures, there are legends and myths about the power of the rainbow, people dedicate works of art, music and poetry to it.

Psychologists say that people admire this natural phenomenon because the rainbow is the promise of a bright, "rainbow" future.

Technically, a rainbow occurs when light passes through water droplets in the atmosphere, and the refraction of light leads to the familiar look of a curved arch of different colors that is familiar to all of us.

Here are these and others Interesting Facts about rainbow:

7 facts about the rainbow (with photo)

1. Rainbows are rarely seen at noon.

Most often, a rainbow occurs in the morning and evening. In order for a rainbow to form, sunlight must hit the raindrop at an angle of about 42 degrees. This is unlikely to happen when the Sun is higher than 42 degrees in the sky.

2. Rainbows also appear at night

Rainbows can also be seen after dark. This phenomenon is called a lunar rainbow. In this case, the rays of light are refracted by reflection from the Moon, and not directly from the Sun.

As a rule, it is less bright, since the brighter the light, the more colorful the rainbow.

3. Two people cannot see the same rainbow.

Light reflected from certain raindrops bounces off other drops from a completely different angle for each of us. This creates a different image of the rainbow.

Since two people cannot be in the same place, they cannot see the same rainbow. Moreover, even each of our eyes sees a different rainbow.

4. We can never reach the end of the rainbow

When we look at a rainbow, it seems as if it moves with us. This is because the light that forms it does so from a certain distance and angle for the observer. And this distance will always remain between us and the rainbow.

5. We can't see all the colors of the rainbow

Many of us from childhood remember a rhyme that allows you to remember the 7 classic colors of the rainbow (Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting).

Everyone is red

Hunter - orange

Wish - yellow

Know - green

Where - blue

Sitting - blue

Pheasant - purple

However, the rainbow is actually made up of over a million colors, including colors that the human eye cannot see.

6. Rainbow can be double, triple and even quadruple

We can see more than one rainbow if the light is reflected inside the droplet and separated into its component colors. A double rainbow appears when it happens inside the drop twice, a triple rainbow when it happens thrice, and so on.

With a quadruple rainbow, each time the beam is reflected, the light, and accordingly the rainbow, becomes paler and therefore the last two rainbows are very faintly visible.

To see such a rainbow, several factors must coincide at once, namely, absolutely black cloud, and either a uniform distribution of raindrop sizes or heavy rain.

7. You can make the rainbow disappear by yourself.

Using polarizing sunglasses you can stop seeing the rainbow. This is because they are covered with a very thin layer of molecules that are arranged in vertical rows, and the light reflected from the water is polarized horizontally. This phenomenon can be seen in the video.

How to make a rainbow?

You can also make a real rainbow at home. There are several methods.

1. Method using a glass of water

Fill a glass with water and place it on a table in front of a window on a sunny day.

Place a piece of white paper on the floor.

Wet the window with hot water.

Adjust the glass and paper until you see a rainbow.

2. Method using a mirror

Place a mirror inside a glass filled with water.

The room should be dark and the walls white.

Shine a flashlight into the water, moving it until you see a rainbow.

3. CD method

Take a CD and wipe it clean so it doesn't get dusty.

Lay it on a flat surface, under a light, or in front of a window.

Look at the disk and enjoy the rainbow. You can spin the dial to see how the colors move.

4. Haze method

Use a water hose on a sunny day.

Close the opening of the hose with your finger, creating a haze

Point the hose towards the sun.

Look at the haze until you see a rainbow.

We have all seen how a multi-colored arc appears in the sky. But what is a rainbow? How is this miraculous phenomenon formed? The mystery of the nature of the rainbow has always fascinated mankind, and people tried to find an explanation for what is happening with the help of legends and myths. Today we will talk about just that. What is a rainbow and how is it formed?

myths

Everyone knows that ancient people were inclined to deify and mystify most natural phenomena, whether it be thunder and lightning or an earthquake. They did not bypass the rainbow. What do we know from our ancestors? What is a rainbow and how is it formed?

• The ancient Vikings believed that the rainbow is the Bifrost bridge, connecting the land of the people of Mitgard and the gods (Asgard).
• The Indians believed that the rainbow is a bow belonging to the thunder god Indra.
• The Greeks did not go far from their contemporaries and also considered the rainbow to be the dear messenger of the gods of Irida.
• The Armenians decided that it was not a natural phenomenon, and the belt of the Sun God (but without having decided, they changed the "specialty" of God and "forced" him to be responsible for art and science).
• The Australians went further and animated the rainbow, making it the patron serpent of water.
• According to African myths, where the rainbow touches the ground, you can find a treasure.
• I wonder what the Africans and the Irish have in common, because their Leprechaun also hides a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

You can still list the myths and legends of peoples from all over the world for a long time, and we would find something interesting in everyone. But what is a rainbow, really?

Story

The first conscious and close to reality conclusions on the atmospheric phenomenon given by Aristotle. It was just a guess, but he became the first person to translate the rainbow from the myth section into the real world. Aristotle hypothesized that a rainbow is not an object or substance, and not even a real object, but simply a visual effect, an image, akin to a mirage in the desert.

However, the first scientific study and justification was carried out by the Arab astronomer Qutb ad-Din ash-Shirazi. At the same time, similar studies were carried out by German researchers.

In 1611, the first physical theory of the rainbow was created. Mark Antony de Dominis, on the basis of observations and experiments, came to the conclusion that a rainbow is formed due to the refraction of light in drops of water contained in the atmosphere during rainy weather. To be more precise, he described the full picture of the appearance of a rainbow due to the double refraction of light at the entrance and exit from a drop of water.

Physics

So what is a rainbow, the definition of which was given by Aristotle? How is it formed? Probably everyone heard about the existence of infrared and ultraviolet radiation? This is the "light" that comes from any material objects in different measurement ranges.

So, sunlight consists of rays with different wavelengths and includes all types of radiation from "warm" red to "cold" violet. When passing through water drops, the light is divided into rays with different wavelengths (and different colors), and this happens twice, when it enters the water, the beam is divided and slightly deviates from its trajectory, and when it exits, it deviates even more, as a result of which a rainbow can be seen naked eye.

For kids

Of course, anyone who graduated from high school with a C grade will tell you about the rainbow. But what to do if a child comes up to the parent and asks: "Mom, what is a rainbow? Where does it come from?" The easiest way to explain this is: "These are the rays of the sun, passing through the rain, shimmer." At a younger age, children do not need to know the physical background of the phenomenon.

Everyone knows the colors of the rainbow have a strict order and always the same sequence. As we have already found out, this is the result physical processes. However, for some reason, many adults (parents, kindergarten teachers) require children to know the correct order of the colors in the rainbow. For faster memorization, expressions were invented in which the first letters of words symbolize a certain color. Here are the most famous forms:

As you can see, you can track the correct order of the colors by the first letter (red-orange-yellow-green-cyan-blue-violet). By the way, Isaac Newton singled out not blue and blue colors, but blue and indigo, respectively. Why the color names were changed remains a mystery. In general, is it really so important to know what a rainbow is in order to admire it?

My friend, have you ever dreamed of walking on a rainbow and getting into fairyland? My mood always improves when I see this very beautiful natural phenomenon. Today I will answer your question “How is a rainbow formed?”

A long time ago, people considered the rainbow as the road to Heaven and believed that it was possible to get to the World of the Gods through it.

Now the rainbow has its own scientific explanation. After rain, some droplets hang in the air, never reaching the ground. The rays of the sun fall on the raindrops and, reflecting from them, as if from a mirror, scientifically refracting, become multi-colored.

My friend, have you heard the saying: "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits"? The first letter of each word denotes the order of colors in the amazing and very beautiful natural phenomenon that you learned about today: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Blue, Violet.

The colors of the rainbow were first identified by Newton. True, at first he identified only five colors - red, yellow, green, blue and purple. But later I also saw an orange color. However, the number 6 in those days was considered for some reason not very good, and the scientist added a blue tint to the spectrum. Seven - the number equal to the number of notes of the musical scale, seemed to Newton very nice. So they left it, although in fact the colors in the rainbow smoothly transition into each other through many intermediate shades.

As far as scientists know, none creature in the world, except for a person, they are not able to see a rainbow. And yet it exists. You can only see a rainbow if you are strictly between the sun (it should be behind you) and the rain (it should be in front of you). Otherwise, you won't see the rainbow!

It always occurs where the sun's rays meet water droplets. For example, at waterfalls, fountains. Or you can make a curtain of drops from a hand sprayer yourself and, standing with your back to the sun, see a rainbow created by your own hands.

Have you noticed that rainbows vary in color saturation? It depends on the size of the droplets: the larger they are, the brighter the rainbow. If a rainbow appears in the morning or in the evening (when the Sun is close to the horizon), then it will be big size if during the day (the luminary stands high) - small.

Rainbows can be observed not only during the day, but also at night, in cirrus clouds and even during fog. And you can see it in its entirety only when you are on an airplane or on a plane. high mountain. That's when it turns out that in fact the rainbow has an absolutely round shape, since the earth's surface completely prevents it from being seen. And all because a drop that has a spherical shape and is illuminated by a beam of parallel sunlight can only create a circle.

inverted rainbow

Have you ever encountered a rare natural phenomenon - an inverted rainbow? This phenomenon is quite rare. It appears under certain conditions, when at an altitude of 7-8 kilometers Spindrift clouds made up of ice crystals. sunlight, falling at a certain angle on these crystals, decomposes into a spectrum and is reflected into the atmosphere. The color in an inverted rainbow is located at reverse order: Purple is on top and red is on the bottom.

Double Rainbow

We already know that a rainbow in the sky appears from the fact that the rays of the sun penetrate through raindrops, refract and reflect on the other side of the sky in a multi-colored arc. And sometimes Sunshine can build two, three, or even four rainbows in the sky at once. A double rainbow is obtained when a light beam reflects off the inner surface of raindrops twice.

The first rainbow, the inner one, is always brighter than the second, the outer one, and the colors of the arcs on the second rainbow are mirrored and less bright. Seeing a double rainbow is a good omen - this is good luck, wish fulfillment. So if you are lucky enough to see a double rainbow, hurry up to make a wish, and it will surely come true.

Is there a rainbow without rain?

A rainbow can also be observed on a sunny, clear day near waterfalls, fountains, in the garden when watering flowers from a hose, clamping the hose hole with your fingers, creating a mist of water and directing the hose towards the Sun.

I suggest you watch the video and find out what happens if a beam of white light is passed through a glass prism, and who was the first to do such an experiment?

"Why is there a rainbow?"

The material was prepared by Nadezhda Danilova

There really is something about a rainbow that makes you feel a thrilling feeling. This is a wonderful sight - colored stripes stretching from edge to edge of the vast sky. Once upon a time, people considered the rainbow to be a sign of God. This is not surprising. A rainbow appears out of nothing. And also mysteriously disappears into nowhere.

Components of a rainbow

These are water droplets in the air, the sun's rays and an observer who sees a rainbow. In this case, a whole ritual must be observed. Not only that the sun illuminated the rain. It should be low above the horizon. The observer must stand between the rain and the sun: with his back to the sun, facing the rain. At this moment, he sees a rainbow. How does it happen.

For a rainbow to appear, it must rain.

How a rainbow appears

A sunbeam illuminates a raindrop. Penetrating into the droplet, the beam is slightly refracted. Rays various colors refract in different ways, that is, inside the drop, a white beam breaks up into its constituent colors. After passing the drop, the light is reflected from its wall, as from a mirror. Reflected colored rays go in the opposite direction, being refracted even more strongly. The entire rainbow spectrum leaves the drop from the same side from which the sunbeam entered it. Light from the sun entered the drop from the side of the observer. Now this ray, decomposed into a color spectrum, returns to it. A person sees a huge colored rainbow spread across the entire sky - light refracted and reflected by billions of raindrops.

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It is very rare to see two rainbows in the sky at the same time: behind the usual rainbow, you can see another one. As a rule, the second rainbow is less visible, sometimes even barely noticeable. The colors of this second rainbow are reversed, meaning purple comes first. Its appearance is explained by the repeated reflection of light rays inside the drop.

Light can be refracted with equal success by fog droplets or evaporation from the surface of the sea. Raindrops, like tiny prisms, split white light rays into a color spectrum.

Now we know something about the nature of the rainbow, but this does not prevent us from still admiring it. Scientists who discovered the mechanism of its formation used the achievements of optics and mathematics. They claim that the thematic equations with which they managed to dispel the mystery of the rainbow are very beautiful, although they are very complex.

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The colors of the rainbow are always in the same order from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

The brightest band is red. Each next color is paler than the previous one. Violet is generally hardly distinguishable against the sky.

A rainbow is not a material object like a bird or a cloud. This is a light trick. Each person sees his own rainbow. This is his and only his unexpected joy.

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Seeing a rainbow is a rainbow omen that gives hope. Such auspicious signs, which are associated with our ancestors, most often brought good luck to those who had the opportunity to see this phenomenon in many religions, the rainbow had different interpretation for example, a rainbow in the Christian interpretation meant manifestations of heavenly power, and in the local beliefs of individual peoples and paganism, the rainbow also meant happiness.

But the most particular attention to this manifestation in the sky was given to the peoples of Ireland, who ranked this phenomenon as something divine and worshiped it more than once. Based on the beliefs of the Irish, there was a legend that the rainbow personifies the path along which small, but very greedy creatures called gnomes descend to the ground after a thunderstorm.

According to many Scandinavians, if a rainbow fell on one of residential building village, then this family was supposed to be in trouble, or one of the inhabitants of this house would soon die. But among the Scandinavians, the rainbow was far from a terrible phenomenon, although it was a bridge between the world of the living and the dead, but a person who managed to follow this path immediately went to heaven. And then many sins were forgiven him, which was the best thing for the inhabitants of Scandinavia.

Numerous peoples who revered the pagan faith, as it was shackled earlier, considered this phenomenon, a bridge over which the souls of the departed could pass into world of the dead, but in addition to this belief, there were other options for interpreting such a phenomenon among our ancestors, for example, many years ago there were such beliefs in the appearance of a rainbow:

• If the rainbow has a curved appearance and, as it were, hangs above the ground, then our ancestors believed that this means heavy rains.
• If the rainbow, on the contrary, hangs high from the ground and is strongly curved, then our ancestors interpreted this as a strong upcoming drought.
• If predominantly green shades prevail in the rainbow, then this meant that it would rain for a long period
• If there are more shades in the rainbow yellow color, then this manifestation of color meant that in the next time the weather should clear up and stabilize
• If the rainbow is dominated by a large amount of red, strong winds can be expected.
• Sometimes we can observe a rainbow without rain, this phenomenon contradicts the very nature of the origin of the rainbow and, therefore, it was most often explained that there would soon be a cold and harsh winter.
• But if a woman wants to give birth to a boy, then in this case she must find where the rainbow starts from and in that very place wish to conceive a son.
• For lovers, a rainbow can symbolize how phenomena personifying strong family, happiness and good luck for a young couple, which is why the halls and the wedding table of lovers are decorated with balls of different colors in the form of an arch that resembles a rainbow, which in itself personifies the luck of the spouses in life together.

The meaning of finding a double rainbow in the sky

One rainbow is good, because it in itself personifies good luck, but what does it mean when two rainbows appear in the sky at once. For any person who believes in signs of a rainbow, a phenomenon with two rainbows is an incredible success, and according to people, it is at this moment that you can make any wish. Regardless of the scale of the desire, it will certainly come true. But even such a successful phenomenon has its own laws, a wish can be fulfilled only when the person who made the wish does not want to harm other people, if this desire is negative, then it is unlikely to come true.

In various religions, both one and two rainbows had different meaning, for example, in the religion of ancient Christians, it was believed that two rainbows are used by God as an appeal to people, that all their sins are forgiven and that there will be no end of the world.

Various artists of the medieval period preferred to depict the throne of the ruler in the form of a rainbow, which symbolized the divine origin of the ruler, and the manifestations of the three primary colors of the world, red, green and blue, meant a reminder to our ancestors of the need to pass on the teachings of the great flood and fire to the younger generation, and also the new earth. Also in the religion of Christians, the main colors personified not only the legends of the ancients, but also the reigns divine gifts people.

But in addition to the religious view on the manifestations of two rainbows, there is also a scientific point of view, most often this personifies the impending bad weather and bad weather.

The appearance of the rainbow in different months

• For the most part, people before Special attention April rainbow. This was marked by the fact that it was previously believed that it was the first thunderstorm and the rainbow that followed it. It meant that spring had really established itself on earth, and the time of winter was over.
• Also, our ancestors showed more attention to the thunderstorm itself, considering it a manifestation of the confrontation between white and dark forces, and in other words between winter and spring, which is fighting for leadership over the weather. And the manifestation of a rainbow in the sky after such a phenomenon was considered a victory for the white forces and the defeat of the dark ones, and if the rainbow was absent, it was believed that the evil forces won and bad weather will stay for a long time.
• Rainbow Appearances in winter time means that the winter will be accompanied by severe cold and frost, but all this will pass without consequences.
• But in Siberia, such a phenomenon meant that a magical creature called the Silver Hoof was running nearby, from the blows of whose hooves are born different kinds gems and gold
• The formation of a rainbow in autumn foreshadowed our ancestors that it would still rain for a certain period of time and the weather would be cold, but soon all this would pass and autumn would delight with warm weather.

How can you predict the weather with a rainbow?

In order to predict the weather using a rainbow, you do not always need to have a huge amount of knowledge, you need to know a few elementary rules that will help with this.

• If a rainbow appears in the sky early in the morning, expect rain.
• But if you observe a rainbow as an evening phenomenon, then we can say that the weather for the coming day will be good.
• If a rainbow appeared during the rain and disappeared at the end of the storm, then variable weather can be expected.
• If it's raining for a long time, and the rainbow does not appear either during the rain or after it, then you can expect trouble.
• But if there are several types of rainbows in the sky at once, then the weather should soon stabilize.