Why is the Sky blue?

Question

Always have wondered, but never got around to asking anyone.

Answer 1

Molecules and suspensoids in the atmosphere scatter solar light, producing the colors of the sky. The sky, when lit by the sun, seems to be blue because the air in the atmosphere has a tendency to scatter short wavelengths of light more than longer wavelengths (blue is at the shorter end of the spectrum). The result is that the human eye perceives blue when looking toward parts of the sky other than the sun.

Answer 2

Actually, this question has been asked SO many times.
Its to do with white light bin refracted into the respective colours.

Blue light has the shortest wavelength as is therefore the easiest to 'break'.
The atmosphere difracts the blue part of the spectrum scattering all over the sky

(anyone who says it reflects the sea is a complete moron)


Here is the Wikipedia explanation.

The sunlit sky appears blue because air scatters short-wavelength light more than longer wavelengths. Since blue light is at the short wavelength end of the visible spectrum, it is more strongly scattered in the atmosphere than long wavelength red light. The result is that the human eye perceives blue when looking toward parts of the sky other than the sun.[1] Near sunrise and sunset, most of the light we see comes in nearly tangent to the Earth's surface, so that the light's path through the atmosphere is so long that much of the blue and even yellow light is scattered out, leaving the sun rays and the clouds it illuminates red.

Scattering and absorption are major causes of the attenuation of radiation by the atmosphere. Scattering varies as a function of the ratio of the particle diameter to the wavelength of the radiation. When this ratio is less than about one-tenth, Rayleigh scattering occurs in which the scattering coefficient varies inversely as the fourth power of the wavelength. At larger values of the ratio of particle diameter to wavelength, the scattering varies in a complex fashion described, for spherical particles, by the Mie theory; at a ratio of the order of 10, the laws of geometric optics begin to apply.

Some of the false beliefs of why the sky is blue are that the sky reflects off the ocean and that the light scatters off dust in the air. These two theories cannot be true, as the sky over the middle of a desert or jungle has the same hue as the sky over the middle of an ocean.

Answer 3

It is the result of sunlight meeting with the Earth's atmosphere approximately 8 miles above the Earth's surface.

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The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

Answer 4

the sky is blue because of the suns ultraviolet rays reflecting off the moisture or water in the sky

Answer 5

the sky is not always blue.. think of the horizon it's not blue not is it...well the sky is blue because blue is the most expandable color

Answer 6

Well, depends on what time it is. And its not always blue, check link

Answer 7

because of the light refracting through water droplets in the sky

Answer 8

Well, it is not really always blue. sometimes white with clouds, gray with a storm, and black at night! it is not always blue!

Answer 9

Because blue is the colour of heaven.

You can read more about colours in the Bible here:
http://www.newcreation.org.sg/aboutus/we_believe/colours.htm

Good question. God bless you. :)

Answer 10

This has been asked over 6,000 times.

Search is your friend.