I was bored, so I decided to research a
common question: Why is the sky blue? Well, here's what I found, I hope you
enjoy it!
Did you know that sunlight is made up of
all colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, violet and blue. Before
sunlight reaches our eyes, gas molecules in the sky interact with it. The gas molecules in
the atmosphere scatter the higher-energy (high frequency) blue
portion of the sunlight more than they scatter the lower-energy red portion of
the sunlight. This is called Raleigh scattering, named for the physicist Lord
John Rayleigh.
So, the sun appears reddish-yellow and the sky surrounding the Sun
is colored by the scattered blue waves.
When the sun is lower in the horizon (near
sunrise or sunset), the sunlight must travel through a greater thickness of
atmosphere than it does when it is overhead, and even more light is scattered
(not just blue, but also green, yellow, and orange) before the light
reaches your eyes. This makes the sun look much redder.
I hope you enjoyed my article!
Source: www.enchantedlearning.com
