00:00why is the sky blue the science of color good afternoon and welcome have you ever looked up
00:07at the vast blue canvas of our sky and wondered why it holds that particular hue while it might
00:12seem like a simple question the answer involves a beautiful and intricate interplay of light
00:17and our planet's atmosphere the phenomenon responsible is known as rayleigh scattering
00:23a process that acts as our atmosphere's own natural filter and painter to understand it we
00:29must first look at the star of our show sunlight this light which appears white to our eyes is
00:35actually a composite of all the colors of the rainbow each of these colors from violet to red
00:41travels on a different wavelength blue and violet light have shorter smaller waves while red and
00:47orange light have longer more extended waves as sunlight begins its journey toward us it must
00:54pass through earth's atmosphere which is filled with tiny gas molecules like nitrogen and oxygen
01:01when the sunlight encounters these minuscule particles remarkable thing happens the light
01:06is scattered in all directions this is where the magic of rayleigh scattering comes in
01:12this principle states that light with shorter wavelengths specifically blue and violet interacts
01:19much more strongly with these small particles and is scattered far more easily longer wavelengths
01:25like red and orange simply pass through without much interruption so as sunlight enters our atmosphere
01:33the blue and violet light gets scattered in every direction this scattered blue light reaches our
01:39eyes from all parts of the sky making the entire expanse appear blue you might ask if violet light
01:46scatters even more why don't we see a violet sky the reason is twofold there is less violet light
01:53present in the sun spectrum and our eyes are simply more sensitive to blue light but what about the
02:00brilliant displays of color we see at sunrise and sunset this is also a direct result of rayleigh scattering
02:08when the sun is low on the horizon its light has to travel through a much greater portion of the
02:13atmosphere to reach us this extended journey means that nearly all of the shorter wavelength blue and
02:19green light is scattered away leaving only the longer wavelengths of red orange and yellow to
02:24penetrate directly to our eyes this is what paints the horizon with those spectacular warm hues
02:31the same process also explains why the sun itself appears yellow during the day most of its blue light
02:36has been scattered away leaving the remaining wavelengths to create that familiar golden color finally
02:44consider clouds they are made of water droplets and ice crystals which are far larger than the gas
02:51molecules in the atmosphere these larger particles scatter all colors of light equally when all wavelengths are
02:58scattered at once we perceive them as white in essence our atmosphere is a dynamic ever-changing canvas
03:07painted with a brilliant blue thanks to the elegant physics of rayleigh scattering it's a daily spectacle
03:14a testament to the beautiful science that surrounds us money explainers
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