arrow Why Sunsets are Red exclaim
Light that isn't scattered is light that is transmitted. Because the red, orange, and yellow light are the least scattered by the atmostphere, light of these lower frequencies is better transmitted through the air. Red, which is scattered the least, and therefore, transmitted the most, passes through the atmostphere than any other color. So the thicker the atmostphere through which a beam of sunlight travels, the more time there is to scatter all the higher-frequency components of the light. This means the light that best makes it through is red. ((there is a figure on the book, but I'll have to scan it and send it to you by pm. stare ))
Sunlight travels through more atmostphere at sunset, and that is why sunsets [and sunrises] are red. wink
At noon, sunlight ravels through the least amount of atmostphere to reach the Earth's surface. Only a small amount of high-frequency light is scattered from the sunlight, enough to make the sun look yellowish. As the day progresses and the sun drops lower in the sky, the path through the atmostphere is longer, and more violet and blue are scattered from the sunlight. The removal of violet and blue leaves the transmitted light redder. The sun becomes progressively redder, going from yellow to orange, and finally to a red-orange at sunset. Sunsets and sunrises are unusually colorful following volcanic eruptions, because particles larger than the atmosphere molecules are more abundant in the air. [note:sunsets and sunrises would be unusually colorful if there are particles larger than atmospheric molecules that are more abundant in the air. EX: Manila Bay rolleyes ]
The colors of the sunset are consistent with our rules of color mixing. When blue is subtracted from white light, the complementary color that is left is yellow. When higher -frequency violet is subtracted, the resulting complementary color is orange. When medium-frequency green is subtracted, magenta ((the dog? eek lol )) is left. The combination of resulting colors vary with atmospheric conditions, which change from day to day and give usa variety of sunsets to enjoy. 4laugh
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