Why does a rainbow appear after rain: causes and types of the phenomenon. lightning atmospheric phenomena rainbow

The answer is known: it is a multi-colored band in the form of an arc, which sometimes appears against the background of the sky. A rainbow is an optical, atmospheric, and weather phenomenon at the same time. It occurs when the air is saturated with tiny drops of water and light passes through them.


This happens after or during rain, fog or in clear weather near a raging river, fountain, watering machine.

Why is the rainbow colored?

A rainbow is made up of rays of light. Where does their color come from? We see white light. In fact, sunlight is made up of particles that vibrate at different frequencies. Our brain (thanks to the eyes) distinguishes it as colors. For example, rays from high frequency vibrations we perceive as red, with low - purple. In the general stream, rays of different frequencies are mixed, and the light appears white.

When it passes through drops of water hanging in the air, it changes direction - it is refracted. Moreover, its different rays are refracted at different angles: red at a small, and, say, purple - at a large angle. And at the exit from the drops, the "white" light breaks up into a spectrum - rays with different colors. We see them as rainbows.

A similar picture is obtained when a film of gasoline shimmers in different colors on a puddle or a soap bubble.

Why is the rainbow not always visible after the rain?

In order for a visible rainbow to be born, it is necessary that the stream of light be strong enough. AT cloudy weather no rainbow to be seen.


In this case, the light should be in front of the eyes, and not behind the head. Usually some people see a rainbow, while others - at the same time as the first - do not see it. Why? If the sun is with your back, then you will see the light before it has passed through the drops and played with the spectrum.

When the sun is too high, its rays, after refraction, do not enter the eyes. The higher the sun, the smaller the rainbow arc. Therefore, the rainbow is not visible at noon, but more often it is observed in the morning or in the evening.

But when you go up (for example, up the stairs), more and more light rays enter the eyes, and the rainbow grows. And the passengers of a flying airliner see through the windows not a rainbow arc, but a full circle!

How many colors are in a rainbow?

No need to smile - the question is not as stupid as it seems.

Of course, we are used to the fact that there are seven of these colors, but this is a tribute to tradition. It comes from Isaac Newton. In experiments, he showed where the spectrum comes from. The great scientist counted five colors in the rainbow - red, yellow, green, blue and violet. However, he did not like the number very much.

Seven was considered a magic number (seven days of the week, seven wonders of the world, seventh heaven, seven deadly sins, etc.). “Looking closely” at the rainbow, Newton added two shades to the spectrum - orange and indigo (blue-violet), and there were seven colors.


But the ancient Russians were sure that there were only four colors in it - scarlet, blue, green and crimson. The Japanese see the rainbow as six colors - they consider green to be a variety of blue. In short, at different peoples the number of iridescent colors ranges from nine to two (light and dark).

It makes no sense to ask how many of them "really" - the colors of the spectrum imperceptibly pass into each other and you can conditionally divide it into as many bands as you like.

How to remember the order of the colors in the rainbow?

Well, it's quite easy. We remember them by the first letters of the words in a simple phrase: "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits"(red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). There is also a modern version: “Every designer wants to know where to download Photoshop.

The English phrase about "pheasant" looks shorter: Run off you girls - boys in view("Run, girls - the boys have appeared").

There is a better option: Richard of York gave battle in vain("Richard of York fought in vain"). Pay attention to the set of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet - the British have kept "indigo"! What can you do, in their language is blue and blue color and are labeled the same.

How to get a rainbow at home?

You will not be able to see a full-fledged rainbow from floor to ceiling. But still…

1. Take a CD, put it in sunlight and change the angle. So it is easy to get bright iridescent spots, stripes or a circle around its edge on the disk.


2. On a sunny day, place a bowl of water on a windowsill or table by the window. Place a mirror at the bottom. Taking it in your hand, move it and the mirror so that the stream of rays reflected by the mirror hits the paper. The light from it, passing through the layer of water, will decompose into a spectrum. A piece of the rainbow will appear on the paper.

Elena Samonkina

Research

Subject: Where does the rainbow come from?

Completed: Bagrationova Polina, Fly Lena

pupils of the preparatory group

Preschool "Deer", Nizhny Kuranakh settlement

Supervisor: Samonkina Elena Alexandrovna

educator

1. Introduction (Relevance).

2. Theoretical part

3. Practical part

5. Conclusion

6. Bibliography

Study characteristics:

The topic is related to empirical research, as it involves carrying out their own observations and experiments.

Preliminary work: familiarization of children with research methods, conducting a training session.

Introduction (relevance)

"Multi-colored rocker

It hung over the meadow "(rainbow).

The impact of nature on our lives is all-encompassing. The beauty of nature cannot leave anyone indifferent. One of the most beautiful natural phenomena is the rainbow. The rainbow attracts the attention of not only children, but also adults. Who among us has not admired this wonderful natural phenomenon. The choice of the topic is due to the fact that children look at the rainbow with interest, and they also like to draw with paints and the drawings turn out bright like a rainbow.

Once, when my mother and girlfriend Lena and I were walking on the street, we saw a rainbow in the sky. She was so beautiful. We asked my mother: where did the rainbow come from? Mom said she didn't know, she just appeared in the sky. Lena and I wanted to know where the rainbow comes from? How many flowers does it have? And can there be other colors? We asked the teacher about this kindergarten. She advised us to do some research and find out for ourselves.

Problem: How and why does a rainbow appear? Can we make our own rainbow?

Object of study: rainbow.

Subject of study: getting a rainbow at home.

Target: Identification of the properties and capabilities of different materials needed to create a rainbow at home.

Tasks:

1. Study literature.

2. Understand the features of the appearance of such a phenomenon as a rainbow.

3. Conduct experimental work with different materials.

4. Prepare a report.

Hypothesis: if we carry out experimental work, we will find out why a rainbow appears in the sky, what colors it contains. And most importantly, we ourselves will get a rainbow at home.

Expected Result:

Acquire new knowledge and skills focused on the development of cognitive abilities;

Learn to conduct experiments and experiments to get a rainbow;

They can visualize the results of their research.

Research stages: Stage 1 - analyze your knowledge;

Stage 2 - collecting information: questioning, studying literature, watching TV shows;

Stage 3 - conducting experiments;

Stage 4 - report.

Research methods:

1. Theoretical

2. Practical

Experimental research base: preparatory group d \ s "Deer"

The practical significance of the work: The value is that the children learned a lot useful information, discovered unusual possibilities for obtaining the rainbow effect using different materials (methods, introduced the guys. The work can be used to help the teacher in ecology classes.

Theoretical part

To find out how to conduct research (determine the sequence of actions), we looked at cards with research methods. We needed to collect information.

At first we thought, what do we know about where the rainbow comes from?

It happens in the summer when it's raining, has the shape of an arc. We sketched this phenomenon on pieces of paper.

Then we turned with questions to the teacher and the children of our group. 20 children took part in the survey.

Questions yes no

1. Have you seen a rainbow? yes - 20 children

2. Do you know how many colors the rainbow has? (what) yes -12 children; no - 8 children

3. Do you know where it comes from? no - 20 children

To find out how and why a rainbow appears, we decided to contact our ecologist. To do this, we went to the environmental laboratory, to Olga Nikolaevna. And they were asked to answer the questions: “Why does a rainbow appear?” Olga Nikolaevna told us: Sunlight seems colorless, but in fact it consists of them. different colors. A rainbow can be seen when the sun comes out during the rain and after. The sunbeam is reflected in the raindrops, refracted and the 7 colors of the rainbow are obtained. There are always seven of them and they are arranged in order. And the counting rhyme will help to remember this order: "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting." We also looked at pictures of natural phenomena. On them, the rainbow has the shape of an arc. As a group, we drew a rainbow and put all the colors in order. But it turns out that the rainbow has the shape of an arc, because we look at it from the bottom up.

And our teacher (Elena Alexandrovna) said that if we looked at the rainbow when we fly on an airplane, we would see that the rainbow has the shape of a circle.

In the children's library, we (together with Elena Alexandrovna) read and looked at books, from which we learned that there are interesting experiments on how to get a rainbow ourselves. We decided to try experimenting.

Practical part

Experiment 1: What is a rainbow? - color mixing.

What colors are in the rainbow? To obtain Orange color mix red and yellow to get purple you have to mix red and blue to get green color you need to shift yellow and blue.

We mixed paints and drew a rainbow.

Experiment 2: Rainbow film.

Materials: a liter bowl of water, a bottle of light nail polish

Put a bowl of water on the table so that the sun's rays do not fall on it. Hold a brush from a bottle of varnish over a bowl until a drop of varnish falls into the water. We observe the surface of the water and see that the varnish forms a thin film on the surface of the water. We turn the bowl towards the light, when the beam falls on the surface, overflows of iridescent tones are visible.

Experiment 3: Rainbow appears.

Materials: mirror, bowl of water.

Place the mirror in the water at a slight angle. Catch a sunbeam with a mirror and point it at the wall (white cardboard). We turn the mirror until we see the spectrum on the wall. Water acts as a prism that separates light into its component colors. Experiment 4: Rainbow in bubbles.

Material: jar with soap bubbles.

We blow bubbles, light falls on soap bubbles, you can see a rainbow in them.

Experiment 5: Rainbow disk.

Material: disks. If you take computer disk shine a light on it, we will see the colors of the rainbow. And you can also see a rainbow in a puddle in which gasoline was spilled.

findings

Rainbow comes in summer, autumn, spring. It appears when sunlight is reflected in water droplets. The rainbow can be seen not only in the sky, it can be seen in colors (mixing and getting different colors). The colors of the rainbow are always arranged in this order. There are only seven of them.

Conclusion

The tasks set in our study were fulfilled. The hypothesis was confirmed. We learned why such a phenomenon as a rainbow appears, conducted experiments, learned how to draw a rainbow different ways; told the children in our group about our study. Try to conduct experiments yourself and get a rainbow at home.

Bibliography:

1. Big Encyclopedia preschooler, M.: Makhaon, 2004.

2. Kulikovskaya I. E., Sovgir N. N. Children's experimentation, M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2005.

3. Savenkov A.I. Methodology for conducting educational research in kindergarten Samara: educational literature, 2004.

According to the Bible, the rainbow is a symbol of God's promise to mankind never again to arrange. Indeed, often a rainbow is evidence that it has rained somewhere nearby. As a rule, we see a rainbow in sunny weather, when there are rain clouds(usually cumulonimbus). To find out what a rainbow is, in this article we will talk about its two components: sunlight and raindrops.

Primary and secondary rainbows.

Why and where do rainbows appear?

Sunlight is a mixture of colors. When light rays pass through a glass prism, some of them are bent and refracted more than others. Light leaving a prism spreads out into a continuous band of colors called a spectrum. The colors go from red, which is the least curved, through orange, yellow, green, and blue all the way to purple. Purple curved the most.

Sunlight passing through water drops is refracted in the same way as sunlight passing through a prism. This creates an atmospheric solar spectrum in the sky, which we call a rainbow.

In short, a rainbow is a group of semi-circular arcs of color that appears as a huge arch in the sky. Rainbows are often seen after rain. They form when sunlight breaks through rain clouds. Raindrops act like miniature prisms, refracting or breaking sunlight into different colors and also reflecting it, creating a spectrum.

We can easily create an artificial rainbow at home with a garden hose. You just need to stand with your back to the sun and adjust the watering of the hose to a fine spray, thus creating water "dust". A rainbow can also be seen in front of the place where the spray of the waterfall falls.

Rainbow at Victoria Falls (on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe)

If there is only one rainbow, or if it is the main one, then such a rainbow always has a red color outside (top) of the arc and blue with inside. Typically, the radius of a rainbow is about one quarter of the visible sky, or 42 degrees. When it is raining nearby, you need to look at that part of the sky that is opposite the sun at an angle of 42 degrees relative to our shadow; This is where the rainbow should appear.

Sometimes you can see another, less bright rainbow around the main one. This is a secondary rainbow, which is formed by light reflected in the drops twice. In the secondary rainbow, the order of colors is "inverted" - red is on the inside, purple is on the outside. The secondary rainbow forms at an angle of 50-53° relative to our shadow. The area between two rainbows appears relatively dark because it lacks both single and double reflected rays. The secondary rainbow is weaker than the primary and usually disappears faster.

There is even evidence for a third or tertiary rainbow, but such an occurrence is considered extremely rare. Several observers have also reported seeing quadrangular rainbows, in which the dim outer arc had a rippled, pulsating appearance.

Who first defined what a rainbow is?

We cannot say with absolute certainty who was the first to give the correct explanation of what a rainbow is. Usually the primacy is given to the Frenchman René Descartes (1596-1650), philosopher and writer, who dealt systematically with this question in an appendix to his famous Discourse on Method in 1637.

Descartes allegedly made an accurate calculation of the paths that the rays of light passed at different points of a glass globe filled with water (imitation of a raindrop), thereby determining the angles of their refraction. This was the solution to a mathematical problem that eluded scientists for two millennia and was the key to explaining what a rainbow is.

But note that Descartes only "presumably" made this calculation. As it turned out, Willebrord Snell, a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, discovered the mathematical law of light refraction 16 years before Cartesian's dissertation on the subject. However, Snell was unable to publish his work and died in 1626. Then, about 80 years after Snell's notes were discovered, there was controversy that Descartes somehow saw Snell's manuscripts and passed off the conclusions set out in them as his own.

The end result was that in the West, especially in English-speaking countries, the law of light refraction became known as Snell's Law, and in France it is called Descartes' Law.

So, although Descartes explained what a rainbow is, he really couldn't do it without precise calculations of the refraction of light. But to whom exactly, Descartes or Snell, this part of the work belongs, we may never know.

Where and when can you see a rainbow?

Sailors know that the rainbow can be used to predict the weather. Generally speaking, showers and thunderstorms move from west to east, thus sailors are guided by the old omen:

Rainbow in the morning - be rain; rainbow in the evening - good weather.

In the morning the sun is in the east, and in order to see a rainbow, we must face the west, where it rains. Since rains usually come from the west, the morning rainbow can warn us about this. In the late evening, the sun is in the western part of the sky. After the rain or thunderstorm has already passed over or past us, it usually retreats to the east, where we will see the rainbow.

And since thunderstorms are more frequent at the end of the day than early morning, the rainbow occurs in the evening much more often. It is for this reason that the appearance of a rainbow is usually associated with the beginning of better weather.

If the sun sets or rises, a full arc of the rainbow can be seen. If the sun is 42 degrees or higher above the horizon, we won't be able to see the rainbow because it will be below the horizon. A clenched fist held at arm's length is approximately 10 degrees; so if the sun is about "four fists" above the horizon, we won't see a rainbow. The only way to see the rainbow at this time will be from a plane or from the top. high mountain. The aircraft will provide best opportunity to see the entire 360-degree rainbow projected onto the earth, but this sight is so rare that only a few were lucky enough to see it.

Why does a rainbow appear after rain? After all, a rainbow is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena. For a long time, people have pondered over its nature and believed that its appearance in heaven is associated with many legends and beliefs. In ancient times, people attributed to the rainbow different meanings, for some, it was a road between earth and sky, for others it symbolized the gate to the other world, for others, the multi-colored arc was a heavenly bridge that let gods and angels into our world.

But what is a rainbow, really? Rainbow - optical phenomenon observed in the atmosphere. Appears when sunlight is refracted in water droplets during fog or rain and as a result a multi-colored arc appears.
Sometimes a rainbow appears not only after rain, but is also born in the reflected sunlight from the water surface. big rivers, lakes, sea bays. Such celestial arcs are extraordinarily beautiful and they appear on the banks of water bodies.

Sunlight is needed for the multi-colored stripes of the rainbow to appear. The light of the Sun consists of various colors of the spectrum - green, yellow, red, blue, violet, indigo, orange. In the rainbow, we see seven colors that smoothly blend into each other and give many beautiful shades.

Multi-colored stripes appear when a beam of light in water drops is refracted, and returns to the observer at an angle of 420 ., and splits into several parts from red to purple.
The width and brightness of the rainbow corresponds to the size of the raindrops. The larger, the larger the drops, the brighter and narrower it will be, moreover, such a rainbow has a rich red color. If the rain is shallow, then the arc will be wide, but faded dull edges of orange and yellow.

We are used to the fact that a rainbow is an arc, but in reality, an arc is only a part of the rainbow. In fact, the rainbow has the shape of a circle, but we see only half of the arc, since its center is located on the same line with the Sun and our eyes. The entire rainbow can be seen only at high altitude - from a high mountain or from an airplane.

inverted rainbow

An inverted rainbow is a fairly rare phenomenon. It happens under certain conditions: if at an altitude of about 7-8 kilometers cirrus clouds formed by ice crystals are placed in a loose thin curtain. The light of the sun falls on these crystals at a certain angle, and breaks up into a spectrum, reflecting into the atmosphere. The colors in an inverted rainbow are in the opposite order, with red on the bottom and purple on top.

misty rainbow

A foggy rainbow, or as it is also called - white, occurs when illuminated by the rays of the sun, a weak fog, which consists of tiny drops of water. It is painted in very pale faded colors, but if the drops are completely small, then the whole rainbow is painted in White color. A foggy rainbow appears on a foggy night when a bright moon shines in the sky. But this is a rather rare atmospheric phenomenon.

moon rainbow

The moonbow, or as it is sometimes called, the nightbow appears at night and is caused by the moon. The lunar rainbow is celebrated during the rain that pours against the moon, it is especially clearly visible on the full moon, when the bright round moon is low in the dark night sky. It can also be seen in areas where there are waterfalls.

fiery rainbow

A fiery rainbow is an unusually rare optical phenomenon in the atmosphere. It appears when the light of the Sun penetrates through cirrus clouds above the horizon at an angle of 58 degrees. But another prerequisite for the formation of a fiery rainbow is the presence in the atmosphere of hexagonal ice crystals, which have the shape of a leaf, besides, their faces must certainly be parallel to the earth. The rays of the Sun, penetrating through the vertical faces of a cold ice crystal, are refracted and form a fiery rainbow or, as scientists say, a rounded horizontal arc.

winter rainbow

The winter rainbow is an extremely amazing phenomenon. It can only be seen in winter, when there is a severe frost outside, and when the Sun shines in a light blue sky, and the air is full of tiny ice crystals. The rays are refracted, as if penetrating through these crystals through a prism and are reflected in the sky in a multi-colored arc.

A multi-colored rainbow can also be seen on a bright sunny day near waterfalls or fountains. In the garden, when watering plants from a hose, you can also see a rainbow, while you need to clamp the hole of the hose, as if creating a mist of water, and direct the hose towards the Sun

"Every Hunter Wants to Know Where the Pheasant Sits"- this phrase will help you remember the colors of the rainbow and their sequence.

Rainbow is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena. Since time immemorial, man has thought about its nature and associated the appearance of a multi-colored arc in the sky with many beliefs and legends. People compared the rainbow either with a heavenly bridge from which gods or angels descended to earth, or with a road between heaven and earth, or with a gate to another other world.

What is a rainbow

A rainbow is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that is observed when the Sun illuminates many water droplets during rain or fog, or after rain. As a result of the refraction of sunlight in drops of water during rain, a multi-colored arc appears in the sky.

A rainbow also appears in the reflected rays of the Sun from the water surface of sea bays, lakes, waterfalls or large rivers. Such a rainbow appears on the shore of reservoirs and looks extraordinarily beautiful.

Why is the rainbow multicolored

The arcs of the rainbow are multi-colored, but for them to appear, sunlight is needed. Sunlight appears white to us, but is actually made up of the colors of the spectrum. We are used to distinguishing seven colors in the rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, but since the spectrum is continuous, the colors smoothly transition into each other through many shades.

The multi-colored arc appears because a beam of light is refracted in water droplets, and then, returning to the observer at an angle of 42 degrees, it splits into its constituent parts from red to purple.

The brightness of the shades and the width of the rainbow depend on the size of the raindrops. The larger the drops, the narrower and brighter the rainbow, the more red saturated color it has. If there is a light rain, then the rainbow is wide, but with faded orange and yellow edges.

What is a rainbow

We most often see a rainbow in the form of an arc, but the arc is only part of the rainbow. The rainbow has the shape of a circle, but we see only half of the arc, because its center is on the same line with our eyes and the Sun. The whole rainbow can only be seen at high altitude, from an airplane or from a high mountain.

Double Rainbow

We already know that a rainbow in the sky appears from the fact that the rays of the sun penetrate through raindrops, refract and reflect on the other side of the sky in a multi-colored arc. And sometimes a sunbeam can build two, three, or even four rainbows in the sky at once. A double rainbow is obtained when a light beam reflects off the inner surface of raindrops twice.

The first rainbow, the inner one, is always brighter than the second, the outer one, and the colors of the arcs on the second rainbow are mirrored and less bright. The sky between rainbows is always darker than the rest of the sky. The area of ​​sky between two rainbows is called Alexander's strip. Seeing a double rainbow is a good omen, it is good luck, fulfillment of desires. So if you are lucky enough to see a double rainbow, hurry up to make a wish and it will surely come true.

inverted rainbow

An inverted rainbow is a rare occurrence. It appears under certain conditions, when cirrus clouds consisting of ice crystals are located in a thin curtain at an altitude of 7-8 kilometers. Sunlight, falling at a certain angle on these crystals, is decomposed into a spectrum and reflected into the atmosphere. The colors in an inverted rainbow are reversed, with purple on top and red on the bottom.

misty rainbow

A foggy rainbow or white appears when the sun's rays illuminate a faint fog, consisting of very small droplets of water. Such a rainbow is an arc painted in very pale colors, and if the droplets are very small, then the rainbow is painted white. A foggy rainbow can also appear at night during fog, when the moon is bright in the sky. A hazy rainbow is a rather rare atmospheric phenomenon.

moon rainbow

Lunar rainbow or night rainbow appears at night and is generated by the Moon. The lunar rainbow is observed during the rain that is opposite the Moon, the lunar rainbow is especially clearly visible during the full moon, when the bright Moon is not high in dark sky. Also, the moon rainbow can be observed in areas where there are waterfalls.

fiery rainbow

A fiery rainbow is a rare optical atmospheric phenomenon. A fiery rainbow appears when sunlight passes through cirrus clouds at an angle of 58 degrees above the horizon. one more necessary condition for the appearance of a fiery rainbow, hexagonal ice crystals are leaf-shaped and their faces must be parallel to the ground. Sun rays, passing through the vertical faces of the ice crystal, are refracted and ignite a fiery rainbow or a rounded horizontal arc, as a fiery rainbow is called in science.

winter rainbow

Winter rainbow is very amazing phenomenon. Such a rainbow can only be observed in winter, during hard frost when the cold Sun shines in a pale blue sky and the air is filled with small ice crystals. The sun's rays are refracted, passing through these crystals, as if through a prism and are reflected in the cold sky in a multi-colored arc.

Is there a rainbow without rain?

A rainbow can also be observed on a sunny clear day near waterfalls, fountains, in the garden when watering flowers from a hose, clamping the hose hole with your fingers, creating a mist of water and directing the hose towards the Sun.

How to remember the colors of the rainbow

If you can’t remember how the colors are arranged in the rainbow, the phrase known to everyone since childhood will help you: “ To every O hotnik F does W nat G de With goes F azan.