Pot of gold in your own backyard?

On hot summer days when severe storm or sudden rain passes thru, we've all looked up afterwards at rainbows in the sky.  But have you ever taken the time to "see" the rainbow?

Here's a few questions about rainbows:

Where are the red and blue colors located?

Are colors always in the same sequence?

What time of day do you see rainbows?

Is it brighter inside or outside the rainbow?

Have you have seen a double rainbow?

Are the colors of the double rainbow in the same sequence as the first?

Does wearing polarized sunglasses effect your view of the rainbow?
 
Issac Newton did.  Yes the same Issac Newton that discovered gravity.  Although the colors of the rainbow are continuous, the neural processing of our photoreceptor cause us to perceive individual bands of color.  In  1672, Newton assign these bands of color the following names: Red, Yellow, Green Blue, and Violet.  He later added orange and indigo for a total of 7 colors.  The same number of notes in a musical active.

Backyard Rainbow

After a severe storm this summer, a beautiful rainbow appeared in our backyard. It was the most amazing sight. The threat of lighting kept me indoors. The soaking wet screen and window blur the image a small amount. We haven't found the gold yet, but we know it's out there someplace.

The order of colors

The order of the colors is always the same, blue on the inside and red on the outside.  This is a result of the dispersion of light inside the water droplet.

White light is reflected back by the blue light and no light is reflected back past the read color.



The double rainbow

When the light bounces 2 times in a water droplet instead of once sides the water droplet, a secondary rainbow is produced.

Brighter inside or outside the rainbow?   Inside.... The white light (All Colors) is reflected back in the center while not light is reflected back above the rainbow.

The light from rainbow is highly polarized.  This means if you polarized sunglasses and you twist the lens you can make the rainbow completely disappear from the sky!