Why is it that our sky is color blue?

Answer 1

The correct answer is that the blue light is scattered by the air molecules in the atmosphere (referred to as Rayleigh scattering). The blue wavelength is scattered more, because the scatteing effect increases with the inverse of the fourth power of the incident wavelength.

OK, but I've known science graduates who don't understand what this means.

Here's my attempt at an answer without too much physics:

I think most people know that sunlight is made up of light of several different wavelengths, and can be split up into the colours of the rainbow. Blue light has the shorter wavelength, and red the longest wavelength.

When sunlight hits the molecules in the atmosphere, the light gets bounced around by the molecules (what actually happens is that the light strikes the molecules and is absorbed, causing the molecules to vibrate and give off, or 're-emit' the lightt; but 'bounce around' is close enough).

Because the blue wavelength is shorter and more energetic, it reacts much more with the air molecules than the red and yellow wavelengths; which tend to pass straight through. Because the blue radiation is re-emitted from the air molecules in all directions ('scattered'), it seems to us looking from the ground that the blue light is coming from everywhere; hence the sky seems blue.

Near sunset, because of the low angle of the sunlight, we see more of the red and yellow wavelendth passing straight through, hence the colours of the setting sun.

BTW: The sky isn't blue because of a reflection of the sea; its the other way round, although the blue colour of the sea is also caused by the water molecules scattering the blue light, in a similar way. This effect is even stronger with ice; which results in the intense blue colour we see if we look down a crevasse in a glacier, or down a hole in the snow made by a ski stock..

For a complete, scientific explqanation, look up 'blue sky' in Wikipedia.

Answer 2

Sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.

Answer 3

the troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and is responsible for most of the scattering of blue light. the troposphere contains mostly nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. This same scattering of blue light causes sunsets to be red, because at high angles the light must pass thru more of our atmosphere, causing most of the blue and some of the green light to not reach us.

Answer 4

surrounding our planet there is the ozone layer the ozone layer is a slight-blue colour. Combine ind the ozone layer are air particles this is how we see the sky to be blue

Answer 5

Our planet is surrounded by many layers of gas like atmosphere, hemisphere etc. The first immediate layer is called atmosphere. It is having some composition of gas like oxigen, nitrogen,carbon dioxide. Also ozon is there. All those compositions forms blue colour.

-Pritam

Answer 6

I don't know, can when u plz know the answer just send it to me on my yahoo email(beautynudy_1995)cuz im so curious 2 know the answer, thanxxxxxxx

Answer 7

would you rather have in orange or green ?
blue rules !