WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

April 20, 2021

Hello!! Hope you all are doing well. I want to thank you for your comments and your support.

So today's topic is the most common question that comes to our mind- WHY IS THE SKY BLUE. Earlier I used to compare sky with a male gender, and I thought maybe he is a boy and so prefers blue color. 😁 Just kidding😜 Come on I was too small to understand it okay😞

So yeah, now here I am, having fully researched, with everything perfectly processed in my brain.

(The sky is blue due to a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. This scattering refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (of which light is a form) by particles of a much smaller wavelength. These shorter wavelengths correspond to blue hues, hence why when we look at the sky, we see it as blue.)

And there you have your answer.😊

Wait, wait I am just joking😆😆 As promised there will be a much simpler explanation for it.

 2 things play an important role in giving color to the sky. 

1. Atmosphere of the Earth 

2. Sunlight 

Let's begin with the Sun. Light from the sun seems white, however, it consists of the seven primary colors seen in a rainbow. So, the white light coming from the sun is a mixture of seven primary colors, and each colored light has a corresponding frequency and wavelength associated with it.

    

Now, when the sunlight, traveling in a straight line towards the surface of the earth strikes with the air molecules present in the atmosphere, it results in either reflection, scattering, or bending (of the light) like a prism.

(Scattering is a process in which air molecules absorb sunlight and re-emit it in various directions)

(When light passes through a prism it bends into seven different rainbowy colors.)

 Most of the red, yellow, and green wavelengths of light pass straight through the atmosphere to our eyes. Whereas, blue and violet waves hit and bounce off of the molecules of gas in the atmosphere. This separates the blue and the violet waves from the rest and makes them scatter in every direction. However, the other color wavelengths hold themselves together as a group and thus remain white.

The amount of light that will be scattered can also be explained through the Rayleigh Law of Scattering i.e. The intensity of scattered light is INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to the fourth power of wavelength of a wave.

So, among the seven colors of sunlight, the light of the color corresponding to the smallest wavelength will be scattered the most. Therefore, blue, indigo, and violet (refer the above picture) light will be scattered the most by the air molecules. And when this light travels to our eyes, the sky appears blue!! to us. 

But wait! VIOLET has the smallest wavelength. Then why doesn't the sky appear violet or even indigo?

Well, that's because some of the violet light is absorbed by the upper atmosphere. While another reason is for it is that our eyes are more sensitive to adapt to the color blue than violet. 

And hence, you have your answer, WHY THE SKY IS BLUE.

I HOPE YOU LIKED MY CONTENT. 

I'll leave you with this quote:

''The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.''