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  1. Why is there a rainbow after the rain? - Physics Stack Exchange

    The rainbow needs sun and rain. Normally during the rain there is no sunlight. After the rain there is generally still rainfall but it has moved away. If the sun has come out where you are and strikes the rain that is moving away from you at the right angle then you will see a rainbow. rainbow reference for more details.

  2. Why the shape of rainbow is semicircular after rain why not the …

    and regarding full circular rainbow, But if the sun is very low in the sky, either just before sunset or just after sunrise, we can see a half circle. The higher the sun is in the sky, the less we see of the rainbow. The only way to see the full circle of a rainbow in the sky is to be above the raindrops and have the sun behind you.

  3. Why aren't rainbows more common? - Physics Stack Exchange

    May 6, 2018 · The Sun needs to be below 40° above the horizon to see a rainbow, and at that high of an angle, the rainbow won't be very good. Rainbows are best in when they form less than an hour or so after sunrise or less than an hour or so before sunset. Rain needs to be falling opposite the Sun. Off to the side: No rainbow.

  4. experimental physics - How does rainbow stay for such long time …

    Aug 28, 2015 · But after the rainbow is formed it should not stay for much long as the rain drops are falling downwards so their position must change . As discussed in the comments, and explained in the wiki article , the raindrops replace each other as they are falling and your eyes see a continuity similar to the one when watching movies and television.

  5. optics - Does refraction or diffraction cause rainbows? - Physics …

    Feb 14, 2016 · As the wavelengths increase, from red towards blue, the index of refraction increases so that the colors are dispersed in the colors of the rainbow. Imagine the sun is behind you, with the rain drops in front of you - then the rainbow is the visible portion of a circle centered about the line from the sun through your head.

  6. What causes multiple colored patches on a wet road?

    Feb 5, 2014 · Now, the fun part! The rainbow extends into the ultraviolet and into the infrared, as do sky rainbows. It can't be a rainbow fallen to earth, for there is no pot of gold at its end. "8^>) Experiment: Take a clean flat plane of glass and place upon it a slightly curved clean convex glass lens. Where the two slightly touch there is tiny circular ...

  7. Why can't thin clouds form rainbows? - Physics Stack Exchange

    Jul 21, 2024 · A bright primary rainbow requires sunlight to be reflected from many droplets, and also for the reflected sunlight to escape back in the sunward direction towards the observer. A light rain, where you can see through the rain to the hills a kilometer or more away, is a good condition for a rainbow.

  8. optics - What makes a rainbow happen? - Physics Stack Exchange

    May 21, 2016 · 4) The light that reflects repeats this process every time it encounters the surface from the inside. Light that exits after one reflection makes the primary rainbow. The total deflection angle D, relative to your own shadow, depends on A and the color of the light, and looks like this: 5) Look at just the red line.

  9. Can you actually stand inside a rainbow? I see people claiming you …

    Jun 30, 2022 · As it did in the video after they "drove through" it. So the direction the car was pointing relative to where the sun was in the sky was critical in the linked video, as was the fact that there was heavy rain close ahead and not much rain behind. The curvature of the rainbow really did seem to stay the same, as it should have.

  10. optics - The color purple in a rainbow - Physics Stack Exchange

    In a rainbow the colors order is red then orange (made from red and yellow, thus making sense that it appears in between them) the yellow followed by green after which comes blue (again green formed from yellow and blue). The final color is purple, which is next to the blue' but not in any contact with the red.

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