

But in fact, rainbows contain over a million colors, many of which are invisible to the human eye!įurthermore, though specific colors, such as pink and brown, are apparent to the human eye, they do not have their own wavelengths. Newton was the one who chose to define the rainbow order in terms of seven distinct colors-ROYGBIV. As these wavelengths move through a mirror, they bend at varying angles, which is why the rainbow hue order looks the way it does. Per color in the visible light spectrum has a different wavelength, with red having the longest at around 700 nanometers and violet having the shortest at about 380 nanometers.

The visible (light) continuum is made up of these colors it is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that human eyes can see. This means the white light is not simply white, but rather a massive range of colors! It refracts into various colors in a certain order, or what we know as a rainbow. Newton performed several light experiments outlined in his 1704 book Opticks and found that pure white light travels through a prism. Most people believe that indigo is more like a deep or dark blue than a purple or violet dye, but even this is debatable! Scientific Explanation of Rainbow Spectrum Indigo is typically defined as being halfway between blue and violet. However, several people are perplexed by the hue indigo and how it varies from blue and violet. I’m willing to bet you can picture most, if not all, of the rainbow’s seven shades. ROYGBIV is occasionally written in reverse as VIBGYOR. The mnemonic system ROYGBIV, in which each letter stands for the first letter of the color names, is the simplest way to recall the rainbow color order. This means that any rainbow colors you see will have these seven colors in the order mentioned above.

Although, in what order do the shades of the rainbow appear? What allows a rainbow to appear? We’ll go into everything you need to know about the rainbow color order, such as what ROYGBIV stands for, why rainbows exist, and whether or not the rainbow order will ever change. On a sunny day, you’ve almost certainly seen a rainbow after some storm. Rainbows occur as complete circles in theory but are commonly viewed as an arc.Įverything you need to know about Rainbow Colors It is created as light passing through the atmosphere interacts with water droplets, resulting in creating a continuum of colors in the atmosphere due to refraction, dispersion, and absorption of the light from the droplets. While there’s nothing wrong with wishing for a bit of luck when you see one, there’s some hard rainbow research to investigate as well! What really is a rainbow?Ī rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that has awed humans throughout history with its majesty. Rainbows have been thought to be positive omens for thousands of years. No matter your age, it’s challenging to look at a rainbow and not have the feeling of excitement and wonder that only comes from seeing something genuinely extraordinary. Rainbows are one of nature’s most mystical – and interesting – phenomena.
