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Why is the rainbow curved?

Updated: 9/11/2023
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16y ago

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A rainbow is curved due to angle requirements. Light from the sun that

bounces through a drop of water, comes into your eye, and appears red must

bounce at a specific angle. Join two sticks together at a set angle. Place

one end at a dot to represent the sun. Place the other toward your eye.

The place where the sticks join, where the water drop is, can be rotated

around in a circle. A rainbow is shaped like a circle.

You never see the entire rainbow because of the horizon. When you look at a

rainbow, the Earth gets in the way of most of the circle. The portion you

see is just the top portion. Draw a circle and cover a little more than

half of it. What is left is the shape of a rainbow.

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Q: Why is the rainbow curved?
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Continue Learning about Astronomy

What is the reason why the rainbow shape is curved?

At every point in a rainbow, the anglebetween the sun and your eyeis the same. The only shape that can accomplish that is a circle.


Why is a rainbow curved?

Answer 1:A rainbow is curved because of the way that light shines - it forms into a curved shape.Answer 2:A rainbow is curved because the light that makes it up comes through the atmospherewhich is curved around the planet, it includes every colour of the light spectrum.Answer #3:A rainbow is curved because at every point on the rainbow, the angle between theline to the sun and the line to you has to be 42 degrees ... at any other angle, thelight leaving the water droplet misses you and you don't see it.A great number of points where that angle is true form a circle.(Of course, only the ones that are above the ground can participate in the process.The ones that are underground either can't see the sun or can't see you, and there'sprobably no water droplets there anyway, so there's no path for the light to go fromthe sun to the point underground and then to you, and you don't see a full circle.)


What do you call in a band of colors as seen in a rainbow?

a rainbow


Why is it called rainbow the word rainbow?

I'm guessing it has something to do with how a rainbow starts after it rains.


Does the rainbow have a name?

The rainbow has a name, but it's the scientific name. Rainbow also goes by Moonbow. But, rainbow is called rainbow because the colors in the rainbow. ROYGBIV when you see a rainbow its called a spectrum. ROY G. BIV is the name... for RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, VIOLET...

Related questions

When was A Rainbow in Curved Air created?

A Rainbow in Curved Air was created in 1969.


What is the reason why the rainbow shape is curved?

At every point in a rainbow, the anglebetween the sun and your eyeis the same. The only shape that can accomplish that is a circle.


Why is a rainbow curved?

Answer 1:A rainbow is curved because of the way that light shines - it forms into a curved shape.Answer 2:A rainbow is curved because the light that makes it up comes through the atmospherewhich is curved around the planet, it includes every colour of the light spectrum.Answer #3:A rainbow is curved because at every point on the rainbow, the angle between theline to the sun and the line to you has to be 42 degrees ... at any other angle, thelight leaving the water droplet misses you and you don't see it.A great number of points where that angle is true form a circle.(Of course, only the ones that are above the ground can participate in the process.The ones that are underground either can't see the sun or can't see you, and there'sprobably no water droplets there anyway, so there's no path for the light to go fromthe sun to the point underground and then to you, and you don't see a full circle.)


When should you draw a straight or curved line in a cumulative frequency graph?

You should draw a line as straight as a rainbow with cheese.


What is the name of the curved path of a projectile that accelerates only in the vertical direction while moving at a constant horizontal velocity?

rainbow trajectory


Does Lemony Snicket use metaphors?

A stone arch casting a curved shadow on the lawn, like a rainbow in which all of the colours were grey or black.


What is a curved seam?

a curved seam is a seam that is curved


What does a curved line look like?

A curved line is a line that is curved.


Is a circle straight or curved?

curved


Is universe curved?

Basically, we don't know if spacetime is overall flat, or overall curved, nor if it's curved HOW it's curved.


What is a mirror that is curved?

A mirror that is curved outward is convex. A mirror that is curved inward is concave.


Are the edges on a cone straight or curved?

Curved.