Seriously?

Question

Why is the sky blue?

Answer 1

It was Einstein who answered this question. It has to do with the way sunlight is scattered by the molecules in the atmosphere. Blue light scatters more than red (Tyndall effect also known as Rayleigh scattering), so more blue light reaches our eye.

There is an excellent description at the website listed below (look at the cartoon and it will be pretty clear).

It is not a reflection from the ocean. And it isn't just water molecules that cause the effect.

Aloha

Answer 2

Actually, the sky is purple, but your eyes are more sensitive to blue.

Sunlight is whitelight. Whitelight is a mixture of all the different colors of light. The different colors of light are actually different wavelengths (light has wave like properties and the length means the distance from peak to peak).

You may have seen that prism makes a rainbow. This is because when the white light enters the prism, different wavelengths are effected in different ways. Basically, they bend to different degrees such that the prism seperates the colors and you see a rainbow. Red bends the least and purple the most (this is why purple is farthest from red in a rainbow. Blue bends the second most...if we just deal with the main colors the eye can see.

When light hits the atmosphere, a smilar thing occures, but instead of the light bending, it scatters. Think of this like dropping different sized marbles on a peice of metal with holes in it. The marbles that are small enough fall through while the ones that are big enough bounce off and fly all over the place.

The blue and purple light are big marbles and bounce off and scatter everywhere "unmixing" them from the white light and allowing them to be seen. Since the eye is more sensitive to blue than purple, however, you see the blue light and thus the sky looks blue.

Answer 3

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

Its some nasty horrible physics and wavelengths.

Answer 4

The main reason light from the sky is blue is Rayleigh scattering (named after Lord Rayleigh), which 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.

Answer 5

This I find is an oft repeated question. This is due to phenomenon of scatter. Blue light is scattered much more than other colours in the visible spectrum due to molecules in air.

Answer 6

the sky is blue from white light being (its either refracted or defracted i dont quite remember) upon entering the atmosphere... blue has the only wave length that can reach our eyes at the angle and the distance.

Answer 7

I think it's the junction of light and darkness what we see in blue..

Answer 8

coz i painted it blue .

Answer 9

cuz God said so.