Scattering Of Light

We all have experienced the variety of colours that nature shows us

From the moment of sunrise when the sky is first flooded with the glorious rays of the sun

Or the blue sky with white floating clouds of various shapes and sizes

To the last streaks of orange that the sunset sky displays before the sun sets

All these colourful shades of nature can be explained by a phenomenon known as Scattering of light

Let us understand what scattering of light is

When a beam of light interacts with any material particle of a medium

A part of it gets absorbed and re emitted

The re-emitted beam gets scattered in different directions

This phenomenon is known as Scattering of light.

And the redistributed light is called scattered light.

Let us now extend our explanation to the nature

We know that the atmosphere is a colloidal mixture, containing many atmospheric particle

When sunlight goes through these particles, the lower wavelength colours are scattered more

This is the reason why we see the blue colour of the sky

But we know that Violet has the least wavelength.

Still, we see Blue because our eyes are more sensitive to blue rather than Violet and Indigo

However, the water droplets in the clouds scatter all the wavelengths of the sunlight in all directions

So generally, the clouds appear white to our eyes

When the sun is at the horizon, during sunrise and sunset, its distance is maximum from the earth

So instead of scattering, it passes through the atmospheric layers and reaches our eyes

Most of the smaller wavelengths are scattered and only the largest wavelength reaches the eyes

This is the reason for the redness of the sky during sunrise and sunset

This is also the reason why the red is used as a danger sign, as it can be sighted from a long distance

But at the noontime, the sun is at the top and so the distance from the observer is the shortest

So all the visible light pass directly without much scattering, thereby appearing white

At high altitude and outer space, the sky appears dark as there is no atmosphere to scatter light

Revision

When a beam of light interacts with any material particle of a medium

A part of the light gets absorbed and the re-emitted beam gets scattered in different directions

This phenomenon is known as Scattering of light and the redistributed light is called scattered light

The sky appears to be blue as blue light has less wavelength and it scatters the most through the atmosphere

The clouds appear white as the water droplets from the clouds scatter all the wavelength of the sunlight

When the sun is on the horizon it appears to be red in colour

The red passes through the atmospheric layers and reaches our eyes instead of scattering

At noon the colours from the sky directly reach us without much scattering, so the sun appears white

The colour red is used as a danger sign as it has the highest wavelength

At high altitude and outer space, the sky appears to be dark as there is no atmosphere

The End