Book 7, Question 106
Why Do Rainbows Show a Set Order of Colors?
Rainbows show a set order of colors because each color bends by a slightly different amount. Red bends least and violet bends most, so they leave the raindrop at slightly different angles. That lines up the colors from red on the outside to violet on the inside!
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 7
More fun facts
- In 1665, Isaac Newton showed that a prism bends each color of light by a slightly different amount.
- Newton named the band of colors a spectrum.
- A raindrop works like a tiny version of Newton's prism.
- Rainbows are the best-known kind of spectrum.
- From longest wave to shortest, the colors go red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
- Violet has the shortest waves of visible light, and red has the longest.
Sources: NASA Science, NASA Science, NOAA, NOAA
Questions kids ask
Who first split sunlight into colors with a prism?
Isaac Newton, in his experiments in the 1600s.
Which color has the shortest waves?
Violet.