1. What is a Rainbow?
A rainbow is a colorful arc that appears in the sky, usually after it rains. It looks magical and bright, with many colors that shine beautifully. People love seeing rainbows because they are so rare and special.
2. What Makes a Rainbow?
Rainbows happen when sunlight and raindrops come together. The sun needs to be shining while there are still tiny raindrops in the sky. These two things work like a team to create the rainbow.
3. How Light Bends – Refraction
When sunlight enters a raindrop, it bends. This bending of light is called refraction. The light slows down and changes direction a little as it enters the water droplet. That’s the first step in making a rainbow.
4. Bouncing Light – Reflection
After the light bends inside the raindrop, it hits the back of the drop and bounces back. This is called reflection. The light reflects inside the drop and heads back out the way it came.
5. Splitting the Light – Dispersion
As the light exits the drop, it bends again and spreads out into different colors. This spreading is called dispersion. That’s when we see all the colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
6. Why It Looks Like a Bow
Rainbows look like a big bow or arc because of the way the light comes out of millions of raindrops at just the right angle. The shape depends on how the light is bouncing and bending inside each drop. You can only see the rainbow if the sun is behind you!
7. A Rainbow’s Beauty
Rainbows remind us how beautiful nature is. They only last a short time, but they make people smile and feel happy. So next time you see a rainbow, remember the tiny raindrops and sunshine that worked together to paint the sky