The Physics of a Rainbow?

Question

Why does the Rainbow has a shape of an arc or a bow? Does it has anything to do with frequency or light?

Thanks!

Answer 1

If conditions are right and you are above ground, you can see that the rainbow forms a circle. The centre of the circle is the antisolar point, i.e. the point exactly opposite the Sun. So if you are on the ground, the antisolar point is below ground (because the Sun must be above ground to make a rainbow)

Rainbow is formed by rays of light reflected and refracted inside water droplets. When yhis happens, they tend to come out around certain angles compared to their initial direction. This angle is different for each frequency(colour). So, red concentrates at one angular distance from the antisolar point, blue at a different one, forming the rainbow.
This has nothing to do with Earth's or atmosphere's curvature.

Answer 2

Basically a rainbow is caused by sunlight passing through water droplets in the air causing a prism like effect (thus making all the colors). The reason the rainbow arcs is just because the earth is round so it follows the rounded shape of the atmoshere. From space you would be able to see rainbows circling the earth if the conditions are right.

Answer 3

When light passes through raindrops, it is broken up into its constituent colours as by a prism.

The arc is actually a circle broken by the earth's curvature. (And there's no pot of gold at it's end)

When high up and above the clouds, as in a plane, you will sometimes see a circular rainbow on the clouds, with the shadow of the plane at its centre.