Why is the sky blue?

Answer 1

I don't know, but I know what is greater than god, what rhymes with orange, and where the other dollar went.

Maybe some of these people know.

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Answer 2

Forget the atmosphere for a moment, just imagine a single electron and a red photon (which has little energy) and a blue photon (which has a lot).
The blue photon has nearly enough energy to lift the electron to a higher energy state, but it doesn't have quite enough so it borrows the extra energy from nothing at all (really, energy is borrowed from nothing !!!). But, Mother natures rule for borrowing energy is "the more you borrow the sooner you have to give it back". So now we have an electron in a high energy state due to the energy from the blue photon and the borrowed energy. Because only a little bit of energy was borrowed (remember the rule) it can stay in this state for quite a long time before mother nature asks for her energy back. When that happens the blue photon is "kicked back out" of the electron.
The key point is that the electron is part of an atom (say a Nitrogen atom in the atmosphere) and that atom is spinning so it can turn quite a long way round in the time between when the blue photon was absorbed and emitted. The practical upshot of which is that the blue photon approaches the atom from one direction but departs in a very different direction or is "scattered". So all blue light is scattered from all Nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere so the sky appears blue. Voila !

A red photon (less energy) to boost an electron to a higher level has to borrow a lot of energy and so has to pay it back sooner. That means the atom won't have turned very far before the red photon is fired out again. So its fired out in pretty much the same direction as it arrived.

Its a bit like jumping on a a merry-go-round. If you stay on for a few seconds, when jump off you'll be travelling in a completely different direction. If you jump on then straight off you'll be travelling in pretty much the same direction as when you jumped on.

Answer 3

The mean free path of the molecules in the air is of the order of the wavelength of the blue light. This causes blue light in Sun's visible spectrum (VIBGYOR) to be predominantly scattered well than others. Known as Raman Effect, this molecular theory of scattering is also the cause of sea water to look blue.

Other interesting notes :-
- In the absence of sunlight (night), the sky is not blue, but black.
- Even in the presence of sunlight, the sky is blue only when seen through the atmosphere (namely from ground). Above the atmosphere (say, from space shuttle) it is black again.
- The mean free path of the molecules constituting Martian atmosphere is of the order of the wavelength of red color light. Hence the Maritan sky is red (or reddish orange).

Answer 4

Ordinary light is made up of seven colours.We see each of these colours only if they are reflected by something or split off in some other way.When sunlight hits Earth's atmosphere,blue light is scattered by the air and it appears that the sky is blue.

Answer 5

The sky is blue because the molecules in the air scatter blue light (shorter wavelengths) more than red light (longer wavelengths).

Answer 6

The sky is blue b/c that is the color that is not absorbed by the atmosphere

Answer 7

something about light passing through particles in the air. blue has the shortest color wave-length, so we see blue in the sky....
i think

Answer 8

the sky is blue because of the way the suns rays hit the ionisphere, and then travele down to the stratosphere. that is why when the sun is down, it is black,... hope this can help

Answer 9

Water vapor in the air, refracts blue.

Same as last time.

Answer 10

Because the ocean is blue and it reflects onto it.

Answer 11

because air is blue?!