Why is the sky blue?

Answer 1

The sky is blue because blue light is scattered (by a process known as Rayleigh scattering) much more than red light is.

This means that blue light ends up scattering in every direction, so it hits our eyes from every direction at once. Meanwhile, red light scatters very little, so it only hits our eyes coming from the direction the Sun is in.

So, when we look at the Sun, we see the blue light and the red light (and everything in-between) coming from that direction. We perceive this mix of colors as a yellowish-white.

However, when we look at a part of the sky away from the Sun, we only see the scattered blue light. Hence the sky appears blue.


PS for Just Try It: Hah! What a list!

Answer 2

A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight.

Answer 3

The scattering of blue component of the white sunlight by air molecules present in the atmosphere causes the blue colour of the sky.This can be explained as follows:
The sunlight is made up of seven coloured lights mixed together.When sunlight passes through the atmosphere,most of the longer wavelenght lights (such as red,orange,yellow,etc.) present in it do not get scattered much by the air molecules and hence pass straight through.The shorter wavelenght blue light is,however,scattered all around the sky by air molecules in the atmosphere.Whichever direction we look,some of this scattered blue light enters our eyes.Since we see the blue light from everywhere overhead,the sky looks blue.
Thus, the sky appears blue because the molecules in the air(nitrogen and oxygen molecules) scatter blue part of the sunlight much more than they scatter red light(or other shades).

-Koolsivaji001

Answer 4

Lithiumdeuteride is correct- The reason is Rayleigh Scattering

I would just like to point out that the others who stated the effect is caused by "refraction" (which is also the mechanism behind the formation of a rainbow), is not the same as scattering. Refraction and scattering are 2 entirely different physical phenomena.

Answer 5

This is due to the same principle that causes a rainbow to form out of a prism. When light hits our atmosphere the light changes from going through a low density (vacuum in space) to a higher density region (air). Because blue light is the highest energy wavelength of visible light (as it has the highest frequency) it is scattered the most as the light is bent through an increasingly dense region of air. The lower wavelength colors are not scattered as much so blue takes over.

Answer 6

as sunlight goes through the air,it bumps into the molecules and dust.
when light hits a gas molecule,it may bounce off in a different direction.some colors of light,like red and orange,pass straight through the air.but most of the blue light bounces off in all directions. in this way,the blue light gets scattered all around in the sky

when you look up,some of this blue light reaches your eye from all over the sky.since you see blue light from everywhere overhead,the sky looks blue

Answer 7

Refraction of the blue end of the light spectrum by nitrogen in the air. Most of the other colors are refracted away. Blue and indigo are "bent" in toward the surface.

Wikipedia.......

Answer 8

I don't know. Why are boobs good?