The rainbow has always attracted the attention of a person with its incredible beauty and unusualness. Only not everyone can explain what it represents, where it comes from. And really, what does a rainbow look like? Try to describe this interesting phenomenon to a person who has never encountered him. Will it work out? Let's try it together.
What does a rainbow look like?
If you take five different colors, sweepingly draw strips in a semicircle one after another in the blue sky, you get something that looks like the indicated miracle.
Describe it in different ways. But any observer can find similar features of the phenomenon. Firstly, it always represents a piece of the arc. At best, half the ring, each tip of which rests on the ground. Sometimes you can observe only a piece of the arc. It depends on the position of the observer. Ancient people worshiped this phenomenon, considered it a special "sign." Naturally, everyone should have known what a rainbow looks like so as not to miss such a heavenly “message”. Yes, and now, what is a sin to hide, people are happy to admire this phenomenon. They even say that this is a sign of good luck. The rainbow is compared to the "rocker of the sky", a bridge, a gate and so on. It arises “from nowhere”, does not rely on anything. It must not be touched, only to watch with enthusiasm. Its meaning is interpreted unambiguously - only in a positive sense. No people on Earth considered this beauty to be a sinful or evil sign. What can not be said about the study of this phenomenon.
From the history
The church did not welcome scientists' attempts to delve into the processes of rainbow formation. She insisted that the Lord creates all physical phenomena in nature. Examples of this can be found in the history of the XVII century. So, the scientist Dominis, who tried to conduct such studies, was excommunicated and put into custody. He did not wait for the verdict of the Inquisition, having died in prison. However, his corpse was burned (this was the case with heretics). Other inquisitive researchers were waiting for the same fate. Although their train of thought was generally correct. Obviously, arguing about how the rainbow looks, why it arises, they should have gotten to the basic optical laws. Conclusions were made to the learned Czech Mark Marc.
White light nature
It so happens that a person explores one small phenomenon, and receives conclusions, which will then be called fundamental. That is, a revolution in science may begin with a small experiment. Nowadays, the famous Czech was interested in physical phenomena in nature, examples of which he observed in everyday life. Only he was not satisfied with the Church's explanations regarding the divinity of their origin. He conducted simple experiments with the sun's rays. Namely, he considered the rays passing through faceted glass. Once, perhaps by accident, a piece remotely resembling a prism fell into his hands. He passed through her a thin beam in a dark room. His surprise knew no bounds. One beam entered a piece of glass, and there were as many as five, and multi-colored! So the experimentally complex structure of white light was proved. Newton later theoretically substantiated it.
What happens in a prism and how is this related to the appearance of a rainbow?
When a white ray enters a different medium, it is refracted. Since it consists of different waves, each of them behaves in its own way. When passing through flat surfaces this cannot be seen. But in a prism resembling a pyramid, white light decomposes into a spectrum. That is, a wave of a certain color is refracted in its own way. The output is no longer a white ray, but a rainbow strip. Now recall that the phenomenon under study appears during rain. The sun's rays pass through droplets, each of which resembles a prism, and are divided into a spectrum. And the viewer sees a rainbow in the sky. It seems that she was painted in the air. The magic of this phenomenon is unlikely to disappear, even if you fully understand the mechanism of its occurrence.
What are the colors of the rainbow?
Not everyone perceives this phenomenon in the same way. It depends on the specific conditions, even the characteristics of the human retina. But this does not mean that rainbows appear differently. No, they are all the same, just sometimes certain colors are less noticeable. Sometimes the phenomenon itself looks pale, and sometimes it is very bright. After reviewing the theory, you can accurately say what colors the rainbow should have. First comes red. Following him appears orange. They can merge into one lane for a person with a low sensitivity of the retina. Then yellow and green appear. Following - blue with blue. They can also be perceived as a single arc strip. It ends in purple. Such an “ideal” rainbow is rarely seen. Unless in the laboratory. There is even a poem for children that remembers the colors of the rainbow. Here it is: "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits." The first letters of the words are similar to the name of the color that makes up this magnificent natural phenomenon.
Is it possible to see a rainbow without rain?
If you understand how it is formed, then the question will seem very strange. In order to make a rainbow, two conditions are needed: sunlight and water droplets sprayed in the air (on the surface of plants). When does it happen? A beautiful rainbow (photo) can form in a waterfall or fountain jets. In this case, all conditions are observed. It is important to consider that you can see the rainbow when the observer stands between the water "suspension" and the sun. So, if there is such an opportunity, on a fine day wander around the fountain. You will definitely find such an angle when this magnificent phenomenon arises in the air. Still it sometimes arises in a strong surf when waves break up into a lot of splashes. If the sun shines brightly, then you can see multi-colored stripes in the air.
Gaze from heaven
It must be understood that the main natural phenomena have their own laws. If we talk about the rainbow, they are well understood. So, people were wondering why she looks like a piece of circle? It turns out that it depends on the point from which to observe it. The rays of the sun, refracting, fall into the eyes of man. They are all direct. If you draw them on a piece of paper, you get exactly an arc. And if you look at it from above, then it will look like a rainbow ring. Rarely enough you can see several "sky bridges". They occur when sunlight is refracted more than once in droplets. Cases of the appearance of two, three and five rainbows at once in the sky are described. Great sight!
