how do rainboes happen?

Answer 1

The refraction of light on water molecules.
Basically the raindrops get between you and the sun and each drop of water is "split" to show the component parts of the light shining through.

Answer 2

The rainbow effect can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind the observer at a low altitude or angle. The most spectacular rainbow displays when half of the sky is still dark with draining clouds and the observer is at a spot with clear sky overhead. The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near waterfalls or fountains. Rainbow fringes can sometimes be seen at the edges of backlit clouds and as vertical bands in distant rain or virga. The effect can also be artificially created by dispersing water droplets into the air during a sunny day.

In a very few cases, a moonbow, or night-time rainbow, can be seen on strongly moonlit nights. As human visual perception for colour in low light is poor, moonbows are most often perceived to be white.
Rainbows may also appear in the spray of a water fountain
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Rainbows may also appear in the spray of a water fountain

The rainbow's appearance is caused by dispersion of sunlight as it is refracted by (approximately spherical) raindrops. The light is first refracted as it enters the surface of the raindrop, reflected off the back of the drop, and again refracted as it leaves the drop. The overall effect is that the incoming light is reflected back over a wide range of angles, with the most intense light at an angle of about 40°–42°. This angle is independent of the size of the drop, but does depend on its refractive index. As seawater has a higher refractive index than rain water, the radius of a 'rain'bow in a sea spray is smaller than a true rainbow. This is visible to the naked eye by a misalignment of these bows [1].

Since the water is dispersive, the amount that the sunlight is bent depends upon the wavelength, and hence colour, of the light's constituent parts. Blue light is refracted at a greater angle than red light, but because the area of the back of the droplet has a focal point inside the droplet, the spectrum crosses itself, and therefore the red light appears higher in the sky, and forms the outer colour of the rainbow. Contrary to popular belief, the light at the back of the raindrop does not undergo total internal reflection; however, light that emerges from the back of the raindrop does not create a rainbow between the observer and the Sun. The spectra emitted from the back of the raindrop do not have a maximum of intensity, as the other visible rainbows do, and thus the colours blend together and do not form a rainbow.

A rainbow does not actually exist at a location in the sky, but rather is an optical phenomenon whose apparent position depends on the observer's location. All raindrops refract and reflect the sunlight in the same way, but only the light from some raindrops reaches the observer's eye. These raindrops are perceived to constitute the rainbow by that observer. The position of a rainbow in the sky is always in the opposite direction of the Sun with respect to the observer, and the interior is always slightly brighter than the exterior. The bow is centred on the shadow of the observer's head, or more exactly at the antisolar point (which is below the horizon during the daytime), appearing at an angle of approximately 40°–42° to the line between the observer's head and its shadow. As a result, if the Sun is higher than 42°, then the rainbow is below the horizon and cannot be seen as there are usually not enough raindrops between the horizon (that is: eye height) and the ground, to contribute. One exception is when the observer is at the top of a mountain or a similar vantage point, for example an aeroplane (see below). Another exception occurs when the rainbow is produced by a garden sprinkler. Although in this case to get sufficient drops they must be very small, resulting in a quite colourless bow.

It is difficult to photograph the complete arc of a rainbow, which would require an angle of view of 84°. For a 35 mm camera, a lens with a focal length of 19 mm or less would be required, whilst most photographers are only likely to have a 28 mm wide-angle lens. From an aeroplane, one has the opportunity to see the whole circle of the rainbow, with the plane's shadow in the centre. This phenomenon can be confused with the glory, but a glory is usually much smaller, covering only 5°–20°, as opposed to over 80° for a full circle rainbow.

You could get more information from the link below...

Answer 3

It's a mix of sun and water.

When light and water meet in the sky on a summer's day, for a few moments, a rainbow will appear. Such a beautiful sight! This phenomena of the atmosphere appears during or immediately following local showers, when the sun is shining and the air contains raindrops. A rainbow can best be seen with polarized sunglasses. We cannot follow the arc of a rainbow down below the horizon, because we cannot see those droplets in the air below the horizon. But the higher we are above the ground, the more of the rainbow circle we would see. That is why, from an airplane in flight, a rainbow will appear as a complete circle with the shadow of the airplane in the center.

Answer 4

you takes a bucket, screwdriver some rope and a whole bunch of industrial paints.

Then, above a large canvas (or piece of hard-board) you suspend the bucket. Make holes in the bottom of the bucket with the screwdriver and pour in some paint. Set the bucket swinging in an arc.
After a few passes, slightly increase the length of the string, fill the bucket with a different colour of paint and set the bucket to swing again.

Repeat until all of the colours have been used.

Sign the work 'Jackson Pollack' and contact your nearest art gallery.

Answer 5

because water has a refractive index of 1.33 and air has a refractive index of 1.0003 this means that when sunlight which is made out of many colours goes through the raindrop the light is refracted in accordance to its frequency towards the medium.because red light has a lower frequency than violet the red is refracted less so it appears at the top of the rainbow and because violet light refracts the most it appears at the bottom etc

Answer 6

How do rainbows form?
''A rainbow in the east will be followed by a fine morrow''
-Weather Proverb''
What is a rainbow?
The rainbow is one of the more of the more spectacular
light shows observed on Earth.The traditional rainbow is
sunlight spread into its spectrum of colors and diverted
to the eye of the observer by water droplets.
The bow part of the word refers to the fact that the rainbow
is a group of nearly circular arcs of color all having a common
center.Typically we only see a portion of the entire circle,
leading to the bow shape.

Answer 7

Rainbow as we learned from Science, is a product of light's reflections as it passes through mists, but there is Biblical reference that it was a sign that God will not send flood to destroy all lives on earth whenever it appears in the clouds..Genesis 9:13-16

Answer 8

Not only rain drops and sun light. A rainbow can happen with a hose-pipe. I have a photograph of my brother watering his garden with a hose pipe, the sun is shining and as the water comes out of the hose, you can see the rainbow colours.

Answer 9

The sun shines through the moisture, which refracts (bends) the light rays into the colors of the spectrum.

Answer 10

Rainbows appear when tiny prisms in the sky or rain seperate the colours from pure light (White light).
There ya go.