why is the sky blue?

Question

its a dumb question but Im curious what most people think

Answer 1

Transmitted light (from the sun, light bulbs, fire, etc) is made up of a spectrum of colors. The longest wavelengths of light are on the red end of the spectrum and the shortest wavelengths are on the blue/violet end of the spectrum.When transmitted light such as sunlight enters our atmosphere it collides with the oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The color with the shorter wavelength is scattered more by this collision. Because violet and blue are the shortest wavelengths the sky appears to be violet / blue. But because our eyes are more sensitive to blue light than they are violet light, we perceive the sky as blue.

Our eyes contain thousand of rods and cones, which are the receptors for light. Whenever one of the 3 Stooges pokes you in the eye you see a giant blue spot. This is because the blue receptors have been activated. Blue is one of the primary colors and thus more easily activated and seen by our eyes.

Blue is also how I feel when my baby leaves and my hound dog dies. Also, how I feel when the cops pull me over and I see their blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror. Then, again, blue is the color of the K-mart special, so this color isn't all bad.

So, why is the sky blue? It is because blue light from the sun strikes the air molecules and scatters and our eyes perceive it as blue.

Answer 2

Light travels in waves. These waves have wavelengths and frequencies. White light from the sun is made up of many difference wavelengths of the visible spectrum. You have probably played with a spectrum, which is a piece of glass that can split the white light into its different components of color making a rainbow.

Longer wavelengths, like red and orange travel straight through the atmosphere and reach you in the form of white light, but shorter blue wavelength light is absorbed by particles in the air and scattered.

On a secondary note, the sun appears yellow because the atmosphere scatters the blue parts of the light in the sky, and the remaining parts of the light appear yellow, but in space, the sun appears white.

Answer 3

Because in a spectum, blue is the most scattered color thus having the apperance of blue. And its not blue because the ocean is, but the ocean is blue because the sky is.

Answer 4

http://www.answers.com/rayleigh%20scattering


Rayleigh scattering (named after Lord Rayleigh) is the scattering of light, or other electromagnetic radiation, by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light. It occurs when light travels in transparent solids and liquids, but is most prominently seen in gases. Rayleigh scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere is the main reason light from the sky is blue.

Answer 5

Light is refracted into different colors depending on the wave length.

The sky is blue because that end of the color spectrum is displayed.

Answer 6

Its not that the sky is blue, its that when your eyes can't see anymore it sees blue. Like when you look at the sea.

Answer 7

Because most of the Earth is covered in water and the water molecules in the air reflect the color of the water on Earth.

Answer 8

It is because blue light from the sun strikes the air molecules and scatters and our eyes perceive it as blue.

Answer 9

The sky is blue, just because that's how God made it.

Answer 10

Because the sun is reflecting off of the ozone layer