How strange! The sky is blue!
Created | Updated Jan 21, 2005
Look up! Just do it. What do you see? Stupid question, eh? You see the ceiling of course. When you look upwards during a sunny day while picnicking however, you see the blue sky. Ever wondered why the sky is not green nor but blue?
Before answering this question, let’s go back to the basic physics of light. Sorry, but here I go…
Light is a kind of energy, which travels in waves. In fact, light is a wave of vibrating electric and magnetic fields. Light forms only one small part of a larger range of vibrating electromagnetic fields called the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic waves travel through space at an amazing 300 00km/s. Therefore this is also the speed of light.
When you see white light from the bulb, you are actually seeing the seven colours of the rainbow! This is because white light consists of a combination of these seven colours.
Each of these colours has a different wavelength, frequency and energy. Wavelength is the distance between the crests of the waves. The frequency is the number of waves that pass by each second. Note that the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency and the less energy it contains.
· Violet: Shortest wavelength, highest frequency and energy
· Red: Longest wavelength, lowest frequency and energy
Now back to our main topic. That blue colour of the sky is due to an effect known as the Rayleigh scattering. As light from the sun moves towards Earth’s atmosphere, not all the colours are actually able to pass through that atmosphere. Most of the longer wavelength colours do pass (red, orange and yellow for sure) but the shorter wavelength ones however are mostly absorbed by gas molecules found in the atmosphere. Absorbed blue light is then bounced back (radiated would be a better word) in all directions. This makes the shy to appear blue!
You would however ask me why it’s the blue rays, which get scattered, and not the indigo nor the violet rays (the other colours pass through the atmosphere remember – there’s also blue that pass through but it then gets scattered). Well in fact, the shorter the wavelength, the more the colour gets scattered. Violet, which has the shortest wavelength of all colours of the rainbow thus gets scattered more than blue rays do. Our eyes however are much more sensitive to blue than to violet and the sky therefore doesn’t appear to be violet but blue (in reality the sky is violet-indigo!).
Now do take the time making the following:
Take a look at the horizon (if you’re at the seaside) and note the sky’s colour there. No, it’s not as blue as the rest of the sky, is it? It’s much paler. This is because for the blue light to reach your eye, it has to travel more. Blue light will thus pass through more air consequently getting scattered more. Conclusion: less blue light reaches your eyes than compared to blue light from just above you.
I planned to explain how the sky appears red or orange during sunsets too but I guess that this would be for another day. This article is pretty loaded already.
P.S. If you’re not convinced with my explanation, maybe this one below will.
Why the Sky is Blue
I don't suppose you happen to know
Why the sky is blue? It's because the snow
Takes out the white. That leaves it clean
For the trees and grass to take out the green.
Then pears and bananas start to mellow,
And bit by bit they take out the yellow.
The sunsets, of course, take out the red
And pour it into the ocean bed
Or behind the mountains in the west.
You take all that out and the rest
Couldn't be anything else but blue.
Look for yourself. You can see it's true.
-John Ciardi
Before answering this question, let’s go back to the basic physics of light. Sorry, but here I go…
Light is a kind of energy, which travels in waves. In fact, light is a wave of vibrating electric and magnetic fields. Light forms only one small part of a larger range of vibrating electromagnetic fields called the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic waves travel through space at an amazing 300 00km/s. Therefore this is also the speed of light.
When you see white light from the bulb, you are actually seeing the seven colours of the rainbow! This is because white light consists of a combination of these seven colours.
Each of these colours has a different wavelength, frequency and energy. Wavelength is the distance between the crests of the waves. The frequency is the number of waves that pass by each second. Note that the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency and the less energy it contains.
· Violet: Shortest wavelength, highest frequency and energy
· Red: Longest wavelength, lowest frequency and energy
Now back to our main topic. That blue colour of the sky is due to an effect known as the Rayleigh scattering. As light from the sun moves towards Earth’s atmosphere, not all the colours are actually able to pass through that atmosphere. Most of the longer wavelength colours do pass (red, orange and yellow for sure) but the shorter wavelength ones however are mostly absorbed by gas molecules found in the atmosphere. Absorbed blue light is then bounced back (radiated would be a better word) in all directions. This makes the shy to appear blue!
You would however ask me why it’s the blue rays, which get scattered, and not the indigo nor the violet rays (the other colours pass through the atmosphere remember – there’s also blue that pass through but it then gets scattered). Well in fact, the shorter the wavelength, the more the colour gets scattered. Violet, which has the shortest wavelength of all colours of the rainbow thus gets scattered more than blue rays do. Our eyes however are much more sensitive to blue than to violet and the sky therefore doesn’t appear to be violet but blue (in reality the sky is violet-indigo!).
Now do take the time making the following:
Take a look at the horizon (if you’re at the seaside) and note the sky’s colour there. No, it’s not as blue as the rest of the sky, is it? It’s much paler. This is because for the blue light to reach your eye, it has to travel more. Blue light will thus pass through more air consequently getting scattered more. Conclusion: less blue light reaches your eyes than compared to blue light from just above you.
I planned to explain how the sky appears red or orange during sunsets too but I guess that this would be for another day. This article is pretty loaded already.
P.S. If you’re not convinced with my explanation, maybe this one below will.
Why the Sky is Blue
I don't suppose you happen to know
Why the sky is blue? It's because the snow
Takes out the white. That leaves it clean
For the trees and grass to take out the green.
Then pears and bananas start to mellow,
And bit by bit they take out the yellow.
The sunsets, of course, take out the red
And pour it into the ocean bed
Or behind the mountains in the west.
You take all that out and the rest
Couldn't be anything else but blue.
Look for yourself. You can see it's true.
-John Ciardi
