How do rainbows form? – ComputationalBio Zone

Question: How do rainbows form?
- Keywords:
  rain,
  rainbows,
  sky
Asked by to Anna, Jane, Iain, Nick on 19 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
- Anna Middleton answered on 19 Mar 2014:
  
  Hi itsyurboi
  Rainbows form when you have a mix of rain and sunshine together and the light from the sun gets bounced off the rain drops.
- Iain Moal answered on 19 Mar 2014:
  
  I know this one. It is because of something called refraction. When light passes from one transparant material to another, such as from water to air, then the light bends, and this is called refraction. This is why, when looking at the bottom of a swimming pool from the pool side, it appears shallower than it is. When this happens, however, different frequencies of light bend by different amounts, with blue and green light bending more than red and orange light. Now, white light is made up of all the colours of the rainbow mixed together. Rainbows happen when it rains, when the size of the rain drops are just right, and the light is coming at just the right angle, for the refraction to split the white light into its different colored components in such a way that we can see them.

Question: How do rainbows form?