Why is The Sky Blue?

It is exciting to see the sky as blue, a probable question that arises is…Why is the Sky Blue? The sky is blue due to the phenomenon of Raleigh scattering. Rayleigh scattering refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (of which light is a form) by particles of a much smaller wavelength. As Sunlight acts as a white light as it passes through the atmosphere it gets scattered by the particles of the atmosphere. As violet and blue have shorter wavelengths and red has a longer wavelength. The shorter wavelength particles tend to scatter more easily as compared to longer wavelength particles. Hence, this makes the sky blue.

The wavelengths in the picture given are not to scale. A red light wave is approximately 750 nanometers, while a blue or violet wave is approximately 400 nanometers. Another essential thing to know about light is that it travels in a straight line unless something gets in the way to-

Reflects when it passes through the mirror.
Bends when it passes through a prism.
Scatters when it through molecules of the gases in the atmosphere.

What is Scattering Of Light?

When light passes from one medium to another such as, air, or a glass of water, then a part of the light is absorbed by particles of the medium, preceded by its subsequent radiation in a particular direction. Such an event is termed a Scattering of light. Rayleigh's scattering theory is reasoned by which the red color of the sun in the morning and the blue color of the sky.

The bending of multicolored light is due to the refraction and total internal reflection of light. The wavelength of the sunlight forms different colors in different directions. Rayleigh's scattering theory is reasoned by the red color of the sun in the morning and the blue color of the sky.

Let P be considered as the probability of scattering and λ is the wavelength of radiation, then it is given as-

P ∝ 1/λ4

The probability for scattering will give a high rise for a shorter wavelength, and it is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radiation wavelength.

Other Examples Of Scattering Of Light-

The red color of sunlight during sunrise and sunset.
The blue color of the sky.
The red color of the danger signal.
The white color of the sky at noon.

Why is The Sky Blue- FAQs

Ans. Light (visible light) is a form of electromagnetic radiation within the section of the electromagnetic spectrum observed by the human eye.

Ans. When light passes from one medium to another such as, air, or a glass of water, then a part of the light is absorbed by particles of the medium, preceded by its subsequent radiation in a particular direction. Such an event is termed a Scattering of light.

Ans. Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon that happens when the light rays propagate from a more dense medium to a lesser dense medium. This type of reflection only happens when the angle of incidence is greater than a particular limiting angle which is also called the critical angle.

Ans. The sky is blue due to the phenomenon of Rayleigh scattering. Rayleigh scattering refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (of which light is a form) by particles of a much smaller wavelength.

Ans. Raman effect of scattering is the most famous discovery of CV Raman.

Why is The Sky Blue?