Map: Physics of Light

LIGHT
Wave Particle
(EM radiation) Big REALM Small (photon)

Ways of Interacting with Matter

• bouncing off matter (scattering, Ways of Interacting with Matter
reflection, iridescence, diffraction) • absorption
• traveling into matter (absorption, • emission
transmission, dispersion, refraction,
diffraction)

Applications Applications
• Fibre Optics • Blackbody Radiation
• Atmospheric Scattering • 3 Basic Types of Spectra
• Rainbows • Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Soap bubbles, Morpho butterflies, • Aurorae
CDs, peacock feathers, cats’ eyes, • Supplement: Spectroscopy
shells, insects Analysis in Astronomy Applications
1

Light as a Wave of EM Radiation

On the macroscopic, every-day scales, light is more usefully described as a
wave.

There are several possible types of interaction of light as a wave with regular
matter, grouped into two major categories: bouncing off matter and traveling
into matter.
Waves of Light
Interacting with
Matter

Bouncing off matter Travelling into matter

• scattering • absorption

• reflection • transmission

• diffraction • dispersion

• iridescence • refraction
• diffraction

Note: we will study diffraction and iridescence later 2

Part 1: Bouncing Off Matter

• When a light wave comes upon a ‘regular

matter’ object (or, it encounters a ‘medium
interface’), it can bounce off the object, changing
its direction of motion in various ways, without
traveling into the object itself.
• Note that often the following terms can be used
interchangeably. The important point is that they
both describe a process where light waves
bounce off matter, back into their original
medium.
3

1
 Two Ways to Bounce

• reflection: the light wave returns to its original

medium, but it is now traveling in a different
direction, along its ‘straight trajectory’ as dictated
by Law of Reflection

• scattering: the light wave returns to its original

medium, but it is no longer traveling along the
‘straight trajectory’ line but rather can travel in
many different random directions

Reflection
• Reflection: change in the direction of a
wave’s motion as a result of hitting a
medium interface, such that the wave
travels back into its original medium along
the ‘straight’ trajectory as given by the Law
of Reflection.

• Examples: waves of light, sound and water

can experience reflection.
5

Reflection

• Specular reflection: mirror-like reflection

of light, in a ‘straight trajectory’ direction
(toward the viewer), off a uniform and
reflecting surface
surface. Specular reflection
returns back a ‘sharp’ image of the original
object reflecting in the surface. This is
what we commonly refer to just as
‘reflection’.

2
 Specular Reflection
‘Normal’: Law of (Specular) Reflection:

Angle of Angle of
θi = θr
incidence: reflection:
θi θr

(Reflecting Surface)

See Interactive Reflection of Light Tutorial here:

http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/reflection/reflectionangles/index.html
7

Specular Reflection: ‘Sharp’

Image Back
In ‘reflection’, usually a ‘sharp’ image of the
object is reflected back to the viewer. The
sharpness and clarity of the reflected
image depends on the type of surface
that’s doing the reflecting.

Specular Reflection: ‘Sharp’ Image Back

3
 Specular Reflection: Degrees of ‘Sharpness’ of Image
The sharpness of an image reflected by water will depend on the water and
surrounding conditions (wind, atmosphere, ‘calmness’).

Relatively sharp image reflected by water: Less sharp image reflected by water:

Other objects can also give ‘reflections’ back, depending on the ‘reflectivity’ of
their surfaces.
10

Scattering

Scattering is the bouncing of light waves off non-

uniformities a medium (or surface) in all of the
possible (random) directions, back into its
original medium
medium, deviating from the regular
‘straight trajectory’ (as in specular reflection).
There is no clear, sharp reflection image of the
original object scattering in the medium formed,
as is in the case of specular reflection.

11

Scattering

• Scattering of light can happen in two ways:

• off large-scale objects, such as a non-smooth wall. This

type of scattering is also called a diffuse reflection.

• off small-scale objects, such as molecules in Earth’s

atmosphere, bubbles, droplets, defects in crystalline
solids, density fluctuations in fluids, cells in organisms,
and textile fibres in clothing. This type of scattering is
what is usually referred to as just ‘scattering’. This type
of scattering may also depend on the wavelength of
incident light and size of particles doing the scattering

12

4
 Diffuse Reflection
In diffuse reflection (or scattering off large-scale surfaces), incident light rays
are reflected back in a variety of possible directions, creating a ‘diffuse’
appearance of the surface.

Examples:

13

Scattering off particles

Scattering of light off smaller-scale objects, such as particles (molecules) in
Earth’s atmosphere, is responsible for the blue light of our sky. More on this
later..

14

Reflectance Spectrum
Reflection and/or scattering of light happens
with most objects, since they are not hot
enough to produce their own light (like the
Sun). We see a particular colour of a
‘regular’ object due to the way in which the
incident white light is reflected/scattered
off it. A graph of amount of light reflected
(as % ) by a surface at each wavelength is
called a Reflectance Spectrum, or
‘spectral reflectance’.
15

5
 Reflectance Spectrum

How we see a
red T-shirt:

• incident white light hits

the red T-shirt

• all wavelengths of this

light except red are
absorbed by the fabric of
the T-shirt

• red wavelengths are

‘reflected’ (rather,
scattered) back

16

Part 2: Traveling Into Matter

17

Part 2: Traveling Into Matter

• When a light wave comes upon a ‘regular

matter’ object (or, it encounters a ‘medium
interface’), it can travel into the object
itself by traveling through the medium
itself,
interface.

• Once a light wave travels into the new

medium, several things can happen to it:

18

6
 Part 2: Traveling Into Matter

• Absorption: ‘loss’ of light, at particular (or all)

wavelengths, due to the atoms of a medium
(surface) absorbing certain photons of this light;
this reduces the overall ‘intensity’ of the light as
well as ‘subtracting’
subtracting certain colours

• Transmission: passing of a certain portion (some

or all) of original light through a medium (general
phenomenon of light traveling through a
medium)

19

Part 2: Traveling Into Matter

• Dispersion: separation, or ‘break up’, of a

wave into its spectral components
(‘wavelengths’), due to the dependence of the
wave’s speed in a medium on its wavelength

• Refraction: change in the direction of a wave’s

motion as it passes through a medium interface,
into a different a medium, due to a change in its
velocity

20

Refraction

Refraction is the change in the direction of

a wave’s motion as it travels into a
different a medium, due to a change in its
velocity. (recall that a velocity of a light
wave in a medium in turn will change
because it depends on the wavelength of
the light).

21

7
 22

Refraction
Another example of refraction is the apparent ‘displacement’ of a straw in a
glass of water.

23

Refraction: ‘amount of bending’

Because light of different wavelengths

(colour) will travel at slightly different
speeds in a medium, the dispersed light
‘rays’ will be bent at different angles,
depending on their wavelengths. Red will
‘bend the least’, while blue will ‘bend the
most’ (from the original path).

24

8
 Refraction: ‘amount of bending’

Original path of light

Sample question: label all points where refraction occurs (above).

25

Refraction in Prisms
Refraction of light will happen at every
medium interface, where light travels from
one medium into another: from air into
glass, AND from glass back into air. So, in
prisms, refraction of light occurs twice:
when light enters and leaves the prism.

26

Refraction in Prisms

The amount of
bending of light that
θ1
happens in a prism
depends on the
angle (θ) between
the faces of the
prism.
θ2

Note: these diagrams show the ‘bending’ that happens to a single ray of
light. It doesn’t show dispersion of white light into colours, which
happens to white light entering a prism.
27

9
 Refractive Index of a Material

The difference in the two media (‘density’ of the medium, which will determine
by how much the light will slow down in it) is designated by the refractive
index n.

Refractive index n: the factor by which the speed of light will slow down in a
medium.

Or quantitatively:
Or, where c = speed of light in vacuum

v = speed of light in medium

c
n 
v
28

Refractive Index of a Material

• Recall that since the velocity of light,
traveling through a medium, depends on
its wavelength, then the refractive index
itself will also depend on the wavelength.

• In other words, each wavelength of light

will have a slightly different value of the
refractive index of a particular material
(medium).
29

Some Refractive Indices

Some of the ‘representative’ (or average)
refractive indices for different materials
are listed on the left.

Vacuum: n = 1.0 (exactly)

Air: n = 1.0003 (close to ‘vacuum’)

Water: n = 1.3

Glass: n = 1.5

Diamond: n = 2.4

Silicon: n = 4.0
c
n 
.
v

30

10
 Snell’s Law
Snell’s Law tells us
precisely how the light will
bend after it travels from
one medium
(characterized by its
index of refraction, n1)
into another medium (n2).

n1 sin(1 )  n2 sin( 2 )
OR
31

Snell’s Law

So, if we know at what angle the light is hitting

the medium interface (angle of incidence, or
θ1), and the index of refraction of both media,
we can find the angle at which the refracted
light will travel through the 2nd medium (θ2)
(θ2).

 n1   n1 
 2  sin 1  sin(1 )  2  arcsin  sin(1 )
 n2   2
n 
32

Snell’s Law

The general direction in which the light traveling through

the second medium will bend, relative to the ‘normal’,
depends on whether or not the second medium is more
or less dense than the first medium.

If n2 > n1 (i.e. 2nd medium is denser than the 1st medium),

the refracted light beam traveling through the 2nd
medium will bend toward the normal

33

11
 Snell’s Law

34

Snell’s Law cont’d

The general direction in which the light traveling through the second medium will
bend, relative to the ‘normal’, depends on whether or not the second medium is more
or less dense than the first medium.

If n2 < n1 (i.e. 2nd

medium is less dense
than the 1st medium),
the refracted light
beam traveling
through the 2nd
medium will bend
away from the normal:

35

Total Internal Reflection

• There is a special case of refraction that
can happen, where the refracted beam is
actually ‘reflected’ back into its original
medium, without even passing through the
2nd medium!

• This case of total internal ‘reflection’

can happen only if both of the following
two conditions are met:
36

12
 Total Internal Reflection
• Light is passing from a more dense
medium into a less dense medium:
– n1 > n2
• Light is coming in to the interface at an
angle of incidence larger than the critical
angle (for that particular medium
combination):
• θ1 > θc
37

Critical Angle
• The critical angle θcrit for a particular medium
interface is defined as the angle of incidence
above which the incident light is refracted all the
way back into its original medium.

• The critical angle will be different for each

different medium interface. In other words, for
light passing from glass (n1=1.5) into water
(n2=1.3) the critical angle is 60°, while for light
passing from diamond (n1=2.4) into air
(n2=1.003) the critical angle is 25°.
38

Critical Angle
The value of the critical angle for a particular
medium interface can be calculated from
Snell’s Law as follows:

 n2   n2 
 crit  sin 1    crit  arcsin 
 n1   n1 

39

13
 Critical Angle and Total Internal Reflection
What happens in total internal reflection?

If θ1 is exactly equal to θcrit, then the If θ1 is larger than θcrit, then the angle
angle of refraction will be θ2=90° (i.e. of refraction will be θ2>90° (i.e. the
the light gets refracted right along the light gets refracted so much that it40
medium interface) returns back to its medium)

Applications of Total Internal Reflection

This behaviour of light is at the heart of various technological applications.

Example: fiber optics, used in communication, surgery, etc.

Discovery Channel video clip showing how fibre optic cables are produced:
http://www.fabila.com/proyectos/ftth/tecnologia.asp
(scroll down)
41

Total Internal Reflection in Fiber Optics

The inner ‘core’ of the fiber optic cable is typically a glass (like silica), or a
plastic composite. Light travels through this core, constantly internally
reflecting  speed-of-light communication! 42

14
 Absorption
Absorption (of light) is the general process of a particle
absorbing the energy of a photon, at the microscopic
level (i.e. the ‘particle’ aspect of light). When a wave of
light enters a medium (matter), some photons may be
absorbed by this medium completely, ‘subtracting’ the
specific wavelengths of colour from the incident white
light. Any wavelengths that were not absorbed can be
either scattered back into the original medium or
continue to pass through the object itself.

43

Absorption
In a sense, absorption is the ‘opposite’ of
‘reflection’. When viewing a red t-shirt, we
say that it appears red because only the
red wavelengths of the incident white light
were reflect by the fabric of the t-shirt –
OR – all wavelengths but red were
absorbed by the fabric of the t-shirt.

44

Absorption Spectrum
A graph of amount of light (as %) absorbed by an object at each wavelength
is called an Absorption Spectrum, or ‘spectral absorption’. Eg: for a red t-
shirt, the absorption spectrum shows that absorption is high for all colours
except red.

45

15
 Absorption and Reflectance Spectra
For the example or a red t-shirt, compare the absorption and reflection spectra:

Only red photons are reflected. Photons of all wavelengths except

red are absorbed.

46

Sensitivity Spectrum
• Another type of an ‘absorption’ spectrum is
called a sensitivity spectrum:
• it shows how much light, at a particular
wavelength is absorbed by each of the
wavelength,
three types of cones in our eyes. The
higher the absorption of a particular
wavelength, the more sensitive that cone
is that particular colour.

47

Sensitivity Spectrum
Sensitivity S (%)

Population – weighted linear cone sensitivity functions 48

(handprint.com)

16
 Transmission
Transmission is the general process of passing of a
certain portion of original light (some or all) through a
medium. Filters are often used to control which
wavelengths of the original incident ‘white’ light get
transmitted through, and which do not, by using a variety
of methods (absorption filters, reflection filters, etc.). In
other words, they ‘filter out’ certain wavelengths and
‘transmit’ only other wavelengths.

49

Transmission

50

Transmission Spectrum
A graph showing amount of light transmitted (in %) at a given
wavelength through a medium (filter) is called a Transmission
Spectrum, or ‘spectral transmittance’.
%)
Transmittance T (%

51

17
 Summary of Spectral Curves
The following table summarizes various types of spectral curves and the
physical quantities that they display.
Type of Nature of Physical Quantity Plotted (y-axis)
Spectral Curve Light Source [versus wavelength λ (x-axis)]
Intrinsic source
Intensity
of light Intensity I
Spectrum
(star, light bulb)
Reflectance Light reflected
Reflectance R (%)
Spectrum by an object
Absorption Light absorbed
Absorption A (%)
Spectrum by an object
Sensitivity Light absorbed
Sensitivity S (%)
Spectrum by our cones
Light transmitted
Transmission
through object Transmittance T (%)
Spectrum 52
(filter)

Dispersion
Dispersion is the separation, or ‘break up’, of a
wave of ‘white’ light into its spectral components
(wavelengths), due to the dependence of the
wave’s
wave s speed in a medium on its wavelength
wavelength.
(i.e. light of different wavelengths will travel at
different speeds in a particular medium). Recall
the relevant formula for a wave of light:

53

Dispersion

speed  wavelength  frequency

Different objects can be used to disperse the incident white

light into its spectral colours: prisms, water droplets,
diffraction gratings, lenses, etc. 54

18
 Atmospheric Scattering
• Recall that light can bounce off the
medium in random directions – or, get
scattered by the medium.

• In the case of Earth’s atmosphere, the

‘medium’ is simply the particles that make
up the atmosphere – molecules of
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. It
can also be specks of dust.
55

Atmospheric Scattering

The typical sizes of the molecules are about < 1nm in diameter.

Nitrogen molecule: N2 Oxygen molecule: O2

O
O
Molecule size: ~ 0.2 nm
Molecule size: ~ 0.2 nm
Recall: the ‘visible’ portion of the EM spectrum has wavelengths of 400 - 700nm 56

Rayleigh Scattering
Rayleigh Scattering: the scattering of light
by particles that are much smaller in size
than the wavelengths of light hitting these
particles
particles.
• Smaller particles will scatter shorter
(‘smaller’), or blue wavelengths of light
‘better’ (or more) than longer (‘larger’), or
red wavelengths of light.

57

19
 Rayleigh Scattering

This means that a lot more of the blue

(shorter) wavelengths of light will get
scattered ‘around’ (randomly) than red light.

58

Preferential Scattering
Rayleigh scattering is then responsible for the
‘preferential scattering’ of light by atmospheric
particles: shorter (blue) wavelengths of light get
scattered (‘bounced around’) more than longer
(red) wavelengths of light
light.
• However, the same Rayleigh scattering process
is responsible for both the BLUE colour of the
sky and the RED colour of sunsets… how?
•  depends on the observer’s ‘viewing
geometry’! (‘perspective’)

59

‘Preferential’ Scattering:

60

20
 Why the Sky is Blue
When you look at the sky (not near rising or
setting times of the Sun), but without
looking directly at the Sun, on a clear day,
it will appear blue,
blue because along your
line-of-sight, many more blue wavelengths
of light have been ‘scattered around’ (than
red), filling up the sky.

61

Why the Sky is Blue

62

Example: Blue Sky

Sample Question: which colours do you see if you look

directly at the Sun (not near sunset or sunrise)? Why? 63

21
 Example: Blue Sky…above the ‘sunset’

64

Why Sunset is Red

If, on the other hand, you look at the Sun setting
down near the horizon, the Sun and the sky
around it will often appear reddish: a lot more of
the same blue light has been ‘scattered’ out of
your line of sight,
even more so since the light from the Sun now has
to travel through a ‘thicker’ slice of the
atmosphere to reach your eyes than usual –
even more scattering of blue light out of your line
of sight has occurred, leaving mostly red/orange
light left behind!

65

Why Sunsets are Red

66

22
 Example: ‘Red’ Sunset

67

Example: Red Sunset

68

Example: ‘Red’ Sunset

69
Notice some reflection occurring off the water as well! (‘reddish’)

23
 Are Sunsets Always ‘red’?

1)
2)

70

These two images are overlooking the same area

(graduate housing complex on Pond Road at
York University) at almost the same ‘sunset’ time
– yet they appear different in colours. What is
the difference due to?
There is, generally, a difference between the
apparent colours of sunrises and sunsets – this
due to the atmosphere being ‘cleaner’ and
‘calmer’ in the morning (i.e. less particles are
‘kicked up’ to do the scattering  appears less
red than a sunset).

71

Sunrise vs. Sunset

Sunrise

72

24
 Dust Scattering
• Small dust specks can also be ‘preferential scatterers’,
creating a similar effect to blue sky / red sunsets. Dustier
atmosphere on Earth will create ‘redder’ sunsets.
• However, dust in the interstellar medium also does
similar ‘scattering away’ of blue wavelengths of starlight
th red
more than d wavelengths
l th off starlight.
t li ht Thi
This means th
thatt
when we’re looking directly at a light source (star)
through gas and dust clouds between us and the source,
the starlight we receive appears slightly redder than it
really is – because too many blue wavelengths have
been scattered out of our line-of-sight!
• For astronomers, this is known as interstellar reddening
extinction, and requires corrections to the gathered light.
73

Mie Scattering
Recall that in Rayleigh Scattering, the particles
that were doing the scattering of light were much
smaller in size (<1nm) than the wavelengths of
light they were scattering (400-700nm).
• Particles larger in size than the wavelengths of
light will scatter all wavelengths efficiently – i.e.
there will be no ‘preferential’ scattering of certain
colours better than others (like in Rayleigh
Scattering) – all colours will scatter equally,
creating the sensation of white in our eyes
74

Mie Scattering (or, why clouds are ‘white’)

Mie Scattering is the

scattering of light by particles
that are equal to, or larger in
size than the wavelengths of
li ht being
light b i scattered.
tt d
.

75

25
 Clouds: Droplets of Water and Ice Crystals
Clouds are made of condensed water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the
atmosphere as ‘visible’ masses. Water droplets and ice crystals are typically
about 10,000 nm in diameter!
 much larger than the wavelengths of visible light: 400-700nm

These water droplets and ice crystals in

clouds will then scatter ALL wavelengths
of light equally, in random directions,
creating ‘white’ colour of clouds.
76

Why Clouds are White

77

Why clouds are dark sometimes

• As light travels farther into the dense cloud,
some of it will get absorbed - in other words, not
all of it will scatter out through the ‘other side’ of
the cloud. More absorption of incoming light on
the side of cloud opposite to the Sun will make it
appear ‘darker’ (grey),
(gre ) since light is ‘s
‘subtracted’
btracted’
overall (at all wavelengths).

• Also, different coloured light falling on clouds

(eg. in ‘red sunlight’ near sunset) will sometimes
give a similarly ‘coloured’ appearance to the
clouds.
78

26
 Absorption in Clouds  ‘Dark’ Regions

79

Absorption in Clouds (more examples)

80

Why is Milk White?

• Mie Scattering is also the process happening in milk, to
give its whitish colour.
• Milk is made up of ‘fat globules’ that are relatively large
in size (100nm) – large enough to scatter all
wavelengths of light, creating appearance of white
colour,, if theyy are in high
g enough
g concentration.
• However, if the concentration of these fat globules is
lowered (eg. from whole milk to skim milk), then there
are less of these globules within the ‘milk liquid’, so that
there can actually be some degree of ‘preferential’
scattering occurring, where shorter (blue) wavelengths
are scattered more than red
•  This is why skim milk may have a ‘bluish tinge’ to it!

81

27
 Where do Rainbows Come from?
Dispersion is the separation, or ‘break up’, of a
wave of light into its spectral components
(wavelengths). Refraction is the change in the
direction of a wave’s
wave s motion as it travels into a
different a medium.

Different objects can be used to disperse the

incident white light into its spectral colours, like
water droplets,
82

Recall Dispersion and Refraction

Original path of light

Red bends the least,

blue bends the most

83

RAINBOWS

Secondary Rainbow

Primary Rainbow

84

28
 Why do we see rainbows? Because water droplets
can act as tiny prisms, so that they both disperse
white light into colours and refract the coloured
rays through different angles.
Rainbows will only be visible if the Sun (always
behind the viewer) is low enough in the sky.
To be more precise, the Sun has to be no higher
than 42° above the horizon (behind the
observer).

85

Formation of a Primary Rainbow

The following diagram shows schematically why a primary rainbow is formed.

Refraction # 1

air water
Total Internal air
Reflection

Refraction # 2

The precise angles through which each coloured ray is bent is 86

determined by Snell’s Law!

Primary Rainbow: Path of Blue & Red Light

The blue ray will emerge at a 40° angle relative to its original incident direction,
the red ray will emerge at a 42° angle relative to its original incident direction.

87

29
 Viewing Geometry

Antisolar point:
the imaginary
point that lies on
the Sun-observer
line, on the
opposite direction
of the Sun (i.e. ‘in
front’ of the
observer,
although the Sun
itself is physically
behind the
observer).

88

Opposite Order of Colour?

• In the actual physical PRIMARY rainbow, the apparent
order of colours is red on top (outside arc) to blue on
bottom (inside arc). Yet in the schematic diagram
showing the dispersion and refraction of light through a
single raindrop, the order is ‘opposite’: blue on ‘top’, to
red on ‘bottom’
bottom .
Because we’re looking DIRECTLY at the coloured rays (i.e.
they’re traveling along our line-of-sight right into our
eyes), we can only see one possible coloured ray from a
single raindrop. Which one? The one that is emerging at
the same angle as our line-of-sight (relative to the
incident white light).

89

Opposite Order of Colours?!

Schematic or a single-drop rainbow

?
Actual rainbow (primary)

90

30
 Opposite Order of Colours?!
The apparent order of colours that we see in a primary rainbow is again a
consequence of ‘viewing geometry’.

Eye Position 1
OR Eye Position 2

91

Opposite Order of Colours: Viewing Geometry

The following diagram shows a viewer looking at MANY rain drops (forming a
PRIMARY rainbow), with a line-of-sight at different angles relative to the
incident sunlight.

42° Higher rain drop

40° Lower rain drop

At a smaller angle (40°), the eye will see a blue ray (‘bottom’ of rainbow);
at a larger angle (42°) the eye will see a red ray (‘top’ of primary rainbow). 92

Opposite Order of Colours: Viewing Geometry

Viewing the different rain drops at different angles is another way of saying that
we’re viewing different rain drops that exist at different heights!

40 42

Rain drops at lower heights contribute blue light;

93
Rain drops at higher heights contribute red light.

31
 RAINBOWS
Why do we see rainbows? Because water droplets can act as tiny prisms, so
that they both disperse white light into colours and refract the coloured rays
through different angles.

Secondary Rainbow

Primary Rainbow

94

Formation of a Secondary Rainbow

Sometimes the incident sunlight can hit raindrops that are even higher than the
raindrops that form a primary rainbow.

Refraction # 2 Total Internal

Reflection # 2

52°

Total Internal
55° Refraction # 1 Reflection # 1

In this case, the sunlight that enters the drop from the bottom (rather than ‘top’
of the drop in the primary rainbow) will refract, and then go through TWO total
internal reflections (which causes the blue / red rays to ‘switch’ order from the
primary rainbow), before refracting out again.
95

Viewing Primary and Secondary Rainbows

Again, the actual order

of colours seen in
primary AND
secondary rainbows
will depend on the
exact ‘viewing angle’ of
the observer – or, the
height of the raindrops!

55°

96

32
 Rainbows Over Water
Rainbows do not need form only in a rain cloud – just anywhere where there
are water droplets!
Rainbow over a fountain

97

Rainbows Over Water

98

33