• Question: Why do we have a rainbow when it has rained and been sunny too?

    Asked by victor9 to Austin, Kirsty, Nicola, Nike, Sarah on 14 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by josua2k, js109345.
    • Photo: Austin Elliott

      Austin Elliott answered on 14 Jun 2012:

      Basically, it is the sun’s light (which contains all the colours) being ‘dispersed’- so the colours can be seen separately – by the water droplets in the atmosphere (that’s why you see a rainbow when there’s sunlight just after rain). Detailed technical explanation on Wikipedia. I imagine that when people cover the physics of light for GCSE they talk about this, as it’s a good way to learn about how light can be reflected and refracted.

    • Photo: Kirsty Ross

      Kirsty Ross answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      Excellent answer Austin. If you want to try and spot them when it is lightly raining, stand with your back to the sun and you should be able to see one. Occasionally you can see double or even triple rainbows, which are very cool to spot.

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