Poll

Do you know off-hand why the sky is blue?

Yes.
26 (61.9%)
I have a general idea.
9 (21.4%)
Not a clue.
7 (16.7%)
I looked it up before I read the question.
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 42

Author Topic: Why is the sky blue?  (Read 1157 times)

I'm not asking if you are able to look it up, I want to know if you honestly know why out of curiosity.

Sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.
Closer to the horizon, the sky fades to a lighter blue or white. The sunlight reaching us from low in the sky has passed through even more air than the sunlight reaching us from overhead. As the sunlight has passed through all this air, the air molecules have scattered and rescattered the blue light many times in many directions. Also, the surface of Earth has reflected and scattered the light. All this scattering mixes the colors together again so we see more white and less blue.

Fine :/
« Last Edit: September 21, 2009, 05:30:26 PM by Cheemo »


Because bluelight bends differently than redlight, when it hits the atmosphere the blue bends more so that the sky appears blue. Basically same thing as in a rainbow, except you only get one color, and its using the entire atmosphere instead of just one water droplet. (yay meteorology)


[edit]
Also, if you wanna see something cool, get polarized sunglasses and look up at the sky at like say 30degrees off the horizon. Twist the glasses and you see the sky lose its blue. It's really awesome :P

I was taught why last year...i forgot a little, but i know its related to why the blue section on a prism is bigger than the rest. doesnt air and water molecules in the air act as a prism, filtering all light except blue?

because if it was green that'd be gay.

because if it was green that'd be gay.

green sky would look epic in supernatural situations



Sun reflects of the ocean?

The light from the sun is split up by something in the atmosphere. That's all i remember.

Sun reflects of the ocean?
the "Color" of the sky is what makes the ocean look blue. it's a reflection. The sky looks blue because of the sun's rays mixing with the gasses in the atmosphere, giving it a blue hue.

No, i did not look this up.

It's not mixing, its the light bending. Jeeze.


Sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.
Closer to the horizon, the sky fades to a lighter blue or white. The sunlight reaching us from low in the sky has passed through even more air than the sunlight reaching us from overhead. As the sunlight has passed through all this air, the air molecules have scattered and rescattered the blue light many times in many directions. Also, the surface of Earth has reflected and scattered the light. All this scattering mixes the colors together again so we see more white and less blue.

Fine :/
This, and red is the light you see at sunset/sunrise because it travels the farthest.

The sky is blue!? Damn, what have I been missing?