• Question: Why is the sky blue?

    Asked by icedancer to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I don’t know, but I would be really interested to find out. Do you think you would be able to have a look on the internet for me and post what you find in the comments section?

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      The sky is blue because of the way that light of that particular wavelength from the sun gets scattered by particles in our atmosphere. This scattering means that you see blue almost everywhere you look in the sky during the day. The scientific name for this kind of scattering is ‘Rayleigh scattering’, after the British physicist Lord Rayleigh.

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      The sky appears blue because the atmosphere scatters light. Blue light is scattered more than the others colours, and so the sky appears blue. This is also why sunsets are red and purple. Reds scatter less than other colours, so when the light passes through more of the atmosphere (like when the sun in near the horizon), all the other colours have scattered away and only the reds are left.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      The answer is something to do with physics, but since I’m not very good at physics I can’t help you, sorry icedancer!

Comments

  • Photo: sorchandanniirock

    sorchandanniirock commented on :

    The atmosphere is the mixture of gas molecules and other materials surrounding the earth. It is made mostly of the gases nitrogen (78%), and oxygen (21%). Argon gas and water (in the form of vapor, droplets and ice crystals) are the next most common things. There are also small amounts of other gases, plus many small solid particles, like dust, soot and ashes, pollen, and salt from the oceans.

    The composition of the atmosphere varies, depending on your location, the weather, and many other things. There may be more water in the air after a rainstorm, or near the ocean. Volcanoes can put large amounts of dust particles high into the atmosphere. Pollution can add different gases or dust and soot.

    The atmosphere is densest (thickest) at the bottom, near the Earth. It gradually thins out as you go higher and higher up. There is no sharp break between the atmosphere and space.

    LIGHT WAVES
    Light is a kind of energy that radiates, or travels, in waves. Many different kinds of energy travel in waves. For example, sound is a wave of vibrating air. Light is a wave of vibrating electric and magnetic fields. It is one small part of a larger range of vibrating electromagnetic fields. This range is called the electromagnetic spectrum.

    Electromagnetic waves travel through space at 299,792 km/sec (186,282 miles/sec). This is called the speed of light

  • Photo: lilandcaitlinizdabest

    lilandcaitlinizdabest commented on :

    isnt it the atmosphere thyat makes it blue?