Why Is the Sky Blue?

Everyone’s heard the question, “why is the sky blue?” asked before. I being one of them never thought to actually research why the sky is blue. Why blue? Why not any other color? I wondered what the science behind the sky being blue was or if the sky really was blue or we just perceive it as that color.

sky

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Why Blue?

The reason we see the sky as blue is because of how sunlight and our atmosphere interact with one another. According to the article I read, when sunlight combines with different types of matter it can result in causing light to scatter. There are different types of scattering and according to the article I read the type that makes the sky look blue is called, Rayleigh Scattering. This type of scattering depends on the different wavelengths of light and the lower wavelength is the one that is scattered most and the light that goes along with this is blue as opposed to longer wavelengths that go with red light. Put in simpler terms, there is more blue light scattered than there is red light. Due to this scattering of light we see the sky as blue. While researching this question I started thinking about how during a sunset the sky changes colors. The sky will turn orange and and red sometimes with no trace of blue. Why is this? According to another article I read, Sunsets aren’t blue because when the sun is setting it is low on the horizon. Blue light gets separated away and this light doesn’t get to our eyes. The colors red and orange are the ones that don’t get scattered away and they reach our eyes causing us to see the sky as these colors.

sunset_2007-1

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sources:

http://images.wisegeek.com/sky.jpg

http://www.livescience.com/32511-why-is-the-sky-

blue.htmlhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Sunset_2007-1.jpg

 

One thought on “Why Is the Sky Blue?

  1. Pengji Wei

    Hello Hate. Great article. When I was a kid, I always wondering that why sky is blue. Because blue is my favorite color. But just like you, I never done the research on why sky is blue until I read your blog today. So it is make sense that is because of the wave-length of the light. And blue tend to have the longer wavelength that any other light. Also is the same principle with the sunset while the sky color is orange.
    And here is a link that might can explain more why sky is blue in the morning and it’s red during the sunset.
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071108135522.htm

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