How does a Rainbow form in Nature? 🌈

A rainbow is a colorful natural phenomenon that appears in the sky after a rain shower, when the sun is also shining. It looks like a bright arch made up of many colors.
You often notice a rainbow in the sky when the sky is still gray with rain clouds on one side, but already sunny on the other side.
A rainbow forms through the special teamwork of sunlight and raindrops.
⚙ einfuhrung

To form a rainbow, you need three things:
1. Sun
2. Rain
3. Your eyes to see it
Sunlight meets raindrops, which act like tiny round lenses.
The light is bent (refracted) inside the water drop, bounced back (reflected), and bent again as it exits. This is called refraction and reflection.
Check out this video about rainbows:
Rainbow
⚙ entstehung

Imagine sunlight hitting a round raindrop:
- First, the white light from the sun enters the drop.
- Inside, the light bends – just like in a triangular glass prism (🔺).
- The light reflects off the back inside the drop (reflection), as if there’s a tiny mirror inside.
- When the light leaves the drop, it bends again, and the colors appear.
How does a rainbow form?
⚙ lichtbrechung

The white light from the sun actually contains many different colors, which together look white. When sunlight enters a raindrop, each color bends differently. That’s why the colors spread out:
- Red: is bent the least and sits on the outside
- Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet: follow one after another toward the inside
This creates the typical color gradient in a rainbow – always in the same order. The rainbow is like an invisible bridge made of light colors!
⚙ farben

A rainbow is not an object, but a light phenomenon. So you cannot touch or visit it.
The place where a rainbow appears changes depending on where the viewer stands. If you try to get closer to it, the rainbow always seems to "walk along" with you. This is because you can only see it when sunlight hits raindrops at the right angle and reaches your eyes.
A rainbow cannot be touched – but it's wonderful to look at!
⚙ anfassen

Rainbows are not only seen in the sky. There are many places where you can discover small rainbows in nature or in everyday life:
- On morning dew on a meadow when the sun shines
- In the mist from a garden hose or fountain
- Near a waterfall
- With a watering can on a sunny day
Anywhere sunlight and tiny water droplets come together, a rainbow can appear!
⚙ beispiele

Why do you sometimes see two rainbows?
Sometimes, there’s a second, fainter rainbow outside the first one. This happens because of double reflection of light in the raindrop.
Why does everyone see their own rainbow?
Because each person stands at a different angle to the sun and the raindrops. That's why everyone sees the rainbow a bit differently.
Where does the rainbow end?
A rainbow doesn’t have a real "end point", because it’s a circle of light. From the ground, you usually see half an arch, since the rest is hidden by the horizon.
⚙ antworten