• Question: why is a rainbow in a specific order ?

    Asked by to Naomi on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Good question Ellemay!

      All of the colours of the rainbow make up visible light – you may have seen this when using a prism to refract, or bend, light.

      When you use a prism to bend light, the different colours seen have different wavelengths – red has the longest, and violet the shortest and so these colours are bent slightly differently.

      When it rains, water droplets act like a prism, refracting light from the sun. When light is bent, its speed slows down and longer wavelengths like red slow down the most, causing it to be refracted the most and causing violet to be refracted the least – this is why you see the colours in that order.

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