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People from time immemorial have tried to explain the nature of the rainbow. Inhabitants Ancient Russia believed that the multi-colored stripes in the sky are a shining yoke, with which Lada Perunica* draws water from the sea-ocean, then to irrigate fields and fields with it. Another version was followed American Indians who were sure that the rainbow is a ladder leading to another world. Well, the harsh Scandinavians identified the celestial arc with a bridge, on which the guard of the gods keeps watch day and night Heimdall**.

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Why does a rainbow appear?

To understand why a rainbow appears, you need to remember what a ray of light is. From the course school physics it is known that it consists of particles flying with great speed - segments of an electromagnetic wave. Short and long waves differ in color, but all together in a single stream they are perceived by the human eye as White light.

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And only when a beam of light "bumps" on a transparent barrier - a drop of water or glass - it breaks up into different colors.

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The shortest red electromagnetic waves have the least energy, so they deflect less than others. The longest violet wavelengths, on the contrary, deviate more than others. Thus, most of colors of the rainbow is located between the red and purple lines.

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The human eye distinguishes seven colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. But it should be borne in mind that in fact the colors smoothly transition into each other through many intermediate shades.

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Under what conditions does a rainbow form?

For a rainbow to appear, a light source is needed and high humidity. Colored stripes are visible in the sky after the rain and in the fog droplets illuminated by the sun's rays. You can see the rainbow near the waterfalls, as well as in sunny weather on the banks of water bodies.

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Why don't rainbows always appear after rain?

A rainbow is visible only when the rays of light fall on the droplets at an angle of 42°. In this case, the light source should be located behind the back of the observer.

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What determines the width and brightness of the rainbow?

The rainbow can be different in width and color brightness: this directly depends on the size of the droplets through which the light is refracted. If the water particles are large, the shining arc will be bright and narrow. If the drops are small, then the rainbow will be wide, but with faded orange and yellow edges.

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Is the rainbow actually a circle, not an arc?

Yes, the rainbow is a vicious circle Bottom part which is hidden below the horizon line. You can see the rainbow ring from the window of an airplane.

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How many rainbows can be seen at the same time?

Sometimes the rays of light that have passed inside the drop are reflected from it two or more times. Then two rainbows are visible in the sky at once (the third and subsequent ones, as a rule, are not distinguishable to the eye). Together with this phenomenon, the Alexander strip is usually visible - a dark section of the sky between the rainbows.

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What is a white rainbow?

A white rainbow is also called a foggy one. This rare natural phenomenon is a wide, shiny white arc. It appears when sunlight illuminates a weak fog, consisting of tiny droplets with a radius of about 25 µm***.

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The inner side of the white rainbow may be slightly tinted in purple, and the outer one is orange.

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How and where does a fiery rainbow appear?

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The fiery rainbow mainly appears in the region of cirrus clouds: small pieces of ice reflect the incident light and literally “ignite” the clouds, painting them in different colors.

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Can you see a rainbow at night?

Yes it is possible. The light of the moon, reflected by particles of water from rain or a waterfall, forms a color range****, which is indistinguishable to the eye at night and appears white due to the features human vision in poor lighting conditions. This rainbow is best seen during a full moon.

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How to make a rainbow with your own hands?

You will need: glass, water, sheet of paper.

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What to do:

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1. Put a faceted glass filled with water to the window where the sun shines from.

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2. Put a sheet of paper on the floor near the window so that light falls on it.

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3. Moisten the window with hot water.

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4. Change the position of the glass and sheet of paper until the rainbow is visible.

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You will need: hose with water.

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What to do:

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1. Take a hose with running water and lightly pinch its “neck” so that splashes appear.

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3. Look closely and see a rainbow in the splashes.

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How to remember the colors of the rainbow?

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There are special phrases that help you remember the sequence of colors in the rainbow.

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The first letter of each word corresponds to the first letter of the color of the rainbow stripe- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

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Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting.

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Once Jacques the bell ringer broke a lantern with his head.

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A mole to a sheep, a giraffe, a bunny stroked old jerseys.

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Every designer wants to know where to download photoshop.

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Who feels the cruel ringing of the gong of resistance to fatality?

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How to predict the weather from a rainbow?

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**** Range- a set of color bands resulting from the passage of a light beam through a refractive medium.

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We have all seen how a multi-colored arc appears in the sky. But what is a rainbow? How is this miraculous phenomenon formed? The mystery of the nature of the rainbow has always fascinated mankind, and people tried to find an explanation for what is happening with the help of legends and myths. Today we will talk about just that. What is a rainbow and how is it formed?

myths

Everyone knows that ancient people were inclined to deify and mystify the majority natural phenomena whether it be thunder and lightning or an earthquake. They did not bypass the rainbow. What do we know from our ancestors? What is a rainbow and how is it formed?

• The ancient Vikings believed that the rainbow is the Bifrost bridge, connecting the land of the people of Mitgard and the gods (Asgard).
• The Indians believed that the rainbow is a bow belonging to the thunder god Indra.
• The Greeks did not go far from their contemporaries and also considered the rainbow to be the dear messenger of the gods of Irida.
• The Armenians decided that this was not a natural phenomenon, but the belt of the Sun God (but without deciding, they changed the “specialty” of God and “forced” him to be responsible for art and science).
• The Australians went further and animated the rainbow, making it the patron serpent of water.
• According to African myths, where the rainbow touches the ground, you can find a treasure.
• I wonder what the Africans and the Irish have in common, because their Leprechaun also hides a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

You can still list the myths and legends of peoples from all over the world for a long time, and we would find something interesting in everyone. But what is a rainbow, really?

Story

The first conscious and close to reality conclusions on the atmospheric phenomenon we are considering were given by Aristotle. It was just a guess, but he was the first person to move the rainbow from the myth section to real world. Aristotle hypothesized that a rainbow is not an object or substance, and not even a real object, but simply a visual effect, an image, akin to a mirage in the desert.

However, the first Scientific research and the justification was carried out by the Arab astronomer Qutb ad-Din ash-Shirazi. At the same time, similar studies were carried out by German researchers.

In 1611 the first physical theory rationale for the rainbow. Mark Antony de Dominis, on the basis of observations and experiments, came to the conclusion that a rainbow is formed due to the refraction of light in drops of water contained in the atmosphere during rainy weather. To be more precise, he described the full picture of the appearance of a rainbow due to the double refraction of light at the entrance and exit from a drop of water.

Physics

So what is a rainbow, the definition of which was given by Aristotle? How is it formed? Probably everyone heard about the existence of infrared and ultraviolet radiation? This is the "light" that comes from any material objects in different measurement ranges.

So, sunlight consists of rays with different wavelengths and includes all types of radiation from "warm" red to "cold" violet. When passing through water droplets, light is split into rays of different wavelengths (and different color), and this happens twice, when it hits the water, the beam splits and deviates slightly from its trajectory, and deviates even more when it exits, as a result of which the rainbow can be seen with the naked eye.

For kids

Of course, anyone who graduated from high school with a C grade will tell you about the rainbow. But what to do if a child comes up to the parent and asks: "Mom, what is a rainbow? Where does it come from?" The easiest way to explain it is this: sun rays, passing through the rain, shimmer." younger age children do not need to know the physical background of the phenomenon.

Everyone knows the colors of the rainbow have a strict order and always the same sequence. As we have already found out, this is the result of physical processes. However, for some reason, many adults (parents, kindergarten teachers) require children to know correct order arrangement of colors in the rainbow. For faster memorization, expressions were invented in which the first letters of words symbolize a certain color. Here are the most famous forms:

As you can see, you can track the correct order of the colors by the first letter (red-orange-yellow-green-cyan-blue-violet). By the way, Isaac Newton singled out not blue and blue colors, and blue and indigo, respectively. Why the color names were changed remains a mystery. In general, is it really so important to know what a rainbow is in order to admire 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 the road between earth and sky, for others it symbolized the gate to other world, for others, the multi-colored arc was a heavenly bridge, letting gods and angels into our world.

But what is a rainbow, really? A rainbow is an 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 only be seen on high altitude- with 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 it's quite 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 one more prerequisite for the formation of a fiery rainbow is the presence in the atmosphere of hexagonal ice crystals, which have the shape of a sheet, in addition, their faces must certainly be parallel to the earth. The rays of the Sun, penetrating through the vertical facets 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 it is standing outside. hard frost, and when the Sun shines in a light blue sky, and the air is filled with 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.

What never leaves a person in the most desperate situation? Hope that the situation will change, that the sun will come out again.

Once on earth happened disaster that no one could have predicted global flood. The fact is that humanity has become very corrupted, and God regretted that he once created people: “And the Lord said: I will destroy from the face of the earth the people whom I created, for I repented that I created them. Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. Here is the life of Noah: Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generations; Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:5-9).

Then God told Noah to build big ship and enter it with your family, and also take a couple of all the animals with you. This command was carried out, and the water covered the whole earth. Noah had no choice but to hope.

And God did not forget about Noah: the water came down from the earth, and Noah and his family stepped ashore. “And the Lord said in His heart: I will no longer curse the earth for man's sake, because the thought of a man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will no longer strike every living thing, as I have done: henceforth, all the days of the earth, sowing and harvesting, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease. ... This is the sign of the covenant that I establish between Me and between you and between every living soul that is with you forever: I put my rainbow in a cloud, that it may be a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth ... and there will be no more water a flood to destroy all flesh ”(Gen. 8-9).

The rainbow is a symbol of hope, a symbol of rebirth, a symbol of salvation, a symbol of God's forgiveness of humanity, a seal that guarantees the continuation of this world. And also a hint of what's to come better times and a happier kingdom. In it, as the Bible says, a rainbow surrounds the throne of the Most High. She is the first covenant that God made with man. A covenant whose sign we can see today.

Such different rainbows

Since childhood, everyone smiles when they see a rainbow. Indeed, it is difficult to look at a rainbow and not experience something amazing. What is this - a rainbow?

Every hunter wants to know

With scientific point vision, it 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 water drops at an angle of 42 degrees. Sun rays, flying at a speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second and meeting the Earth on their way, are capable of performing miracles worthy of the hand of an artist.

It is generally accepted that there are 7 colors in the rainbow, everyone has known them since childhood. Light, passing through raindrops, as through a prism, is divided into a spectrum of different colors. But not all shades of the spectrum can be seen by the human eye. In ancient times, it was believed that the rainbow consists of three colors. It wasn't until the 17th century, when science developed, that scientists were able to isolate the entire spectrum of colors in sunlight, and we got our modern complete understanding of the rainbow. By the way, in China, the rainbow is still divided into five colors, while excluding orange and purple.

White and round rainbows

But rainbows are different. Have you ever seen or heard of white or round rainbows? And they happen. A white rainbow appears only at night in moonlight after rain, when viewed at a certain angle of light refraction. This is a fairly rare occurrence, however, it can be seen. Just like a round rainbow. In fact, the rainbow is always in the form of a circle, but a person can only see half of this circle, because he is in a certain plane on the earth. If you go up to the height of a bird's eye view and look at the rainbow from above, you can see the entire circle of the rainbow.

inverted rainbow

An inverted rainbow is a rather rare phenomenon. 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.

fiery rainbow

A fiery rainbow is a rare optical atmospheric phenomenon. It appears when sunlight passes through cirrus clouds at an angle of 58 degrees above the horizon. Another necessary condition for the appearance of a fiery rainbow is hexagonal leaf-shaped ice crystals, their faces must be parallel to the ground. The sun's rays, passing through the vertical edges of the ice crystal, are refracted and ignite a fiery rainbow.

personal rainbow

Each of us sees our own, personal rainbow. When you look at a rainbow, you see the light refracted from some raindrops, and the person standing next to you looks at the same rainbow, but sees the light reflected from other raindrops. In addition, everyone sees colors differently depending on the light. The same thing happens in life: each person looks at the problem differently and solves this problem also in different ways.

Whatever the rainbow: ordinary, round, fiery, inverted, double or triple - in any case, it carries hope for the future. As for Noah many years ago, the rainbow was the beginning of a new life (this story can be read in the Bible, in the book of Genesis from chapter 6), so for us, let the rainbow always be a reminder that God will not leave us and will not leave us, what lies ahead - the best.

Based on materials from sites n-t.ru; vse-sekrety.ru prepared by Natalia Kudryashova

All of us have repeatedly seen such an amazing and bewitching phenomenon of nature - a rainbow. How does it arise, due to which a huge seven-color arc appears in the sky? Let us consider in more detail the essence of the rainbow as an atmospheric and natural phenomenon.

What is a rainbow as a natural phenomenon?

Rainbow is one of the most beautiful natural phenomena, which is customary to observe after rain. A rainbow is visible after rain because the sun illuminates many water droplets in the Earth's atmospheric layer. The shape of the rainbow is a semicircle or arc, composed of seven colors of the spectrum - a multi-colored stripe. The higher the point of observation of the rainbow, the fuller and richer it is: for example, from the height of an airplane, you can even see the full circle that the rainbow describes. There is one natural regularity: When you observe a rainbow arc, the sun is always behind you.

How and why does a rainbow appear?

A rainbow is primarily a physical phenomenon, which is based on the interaction of light and water. Sunlight is refracted and reflected by water droplets that float in the atmosphere. Droplets reflect or deflect light differently. An observer who stands with his back to the sun (light source) sees a multi-colored glow in front of him. This is nothing but white light, decomposed into a spectrum of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. But it should be noted that the rainbow, like many physical phenomena, there is a feature: seven colors are nothing but an optical illusion, in fact, the spectrum is continuous, and its colors smoothly transition into each other through many intermediate shades.

Colors of rainbow

The colors of the rainbow are familiar to almost everyone thanks to the children's rhyme "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting." It is customary to talk about seven spectral colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. However, the number of colors perceived by the eye also depends on the culture of a particular people and era. Let's look at how different nations saw rainbow colors.

• For the Russian people, a rainbow is an arc of seven colors.
• For the British and Americans, the rainbow is six colors, since blue and blue in English are the same color.
• Among the Australian Aborigines, the rainbow was associated with six symbolic snakes.
• Some African tribes allocate only two iridescent colors, or rather, shades - light and dark.
• The great ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle singled out only three primary colors: red, purple and green, and their combinations, in his opinion, gave the rest of the colors.

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