Q&A Forum

     Re: Blue Skies

And a follow up question might be why does the sky turn to Redish color as the sun sink in the evening skies? Oops Jamie answered that too, if I'd have read further before hitting send!
Attachment: No

     Re: Blue Skies

No, really, it's because blue is God's favorite color (don't know about the Tarheels, tho' that's a good reason, too. He is also a Longhorns fan and that is why sunsets are burnt orange!).
Attachment: No

     Re: Blue Skies

Because God loves Tarheels.
Attachment: No

     Re: Blue Skies

Wow - I've learned a lot on this site.
Attachment: No

     Re: Blue Skies

Take a look here: http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html

Attachment: No

     Re: Blue Skies

Put simply, scattering is what makes the sky blue. During the middle of the day, when the Sun is high in the sky, molecules in Earth's atmosphere scatter the blue part of visible light more than they scatter the other wavelengths. This process makes the sky light and blue. It is too bright to see the faint stars beyond Earth's atmosphere. At dawn and dusk, light from the Sun must travel farther through the atmosphere before it reaches your eyes. By the time you see it, the greens and blues are scattered away and the light appears reddish.

Scattering is the spreading out of light rays in all directions, because particles reflect and absorb the light. Fog or dust in the air, mud in water, and scratches or smudges on glass can all cause scattering. Scattering creates glare and makes it hard to see through even a transparent material. Making the light brighter causes more scattering, as you may have noticed if you have ever tried to put on your high beams in the fog.

Rayleigh scattering comes from a scientist named Lord Rayleigh, and deals with scattering of light by particles much smaller than the wavelength of light (seen most often in gases). Rayleigh scattering of a beam of light is dependent upon the size of the particles, and the wavelength of light (making it inversely proportional to the fourth power of wavelength). Since blue has a shorter wavelength than red or yellow, it scatters first. So, during the day, when the Sun is closest to Earth, we see the blue light scattering. However, at dusk and dawn, when the Sun is farthest from Earth, the blue light scatters quickly, and only the red and yellow make it all the way to our eyes.

This is where we could get into how polarized sunglasses work - let me know if you want me to continue. . . . .

Attachment: No