The sky looks blue because the air scatters the light from the sun. Blue light is scattered more than other colors, so we see it all around us. When the sun is low in the sky, like at sunrise or sunset, the blue light has to travel farther through the atmosphere, and that’s why the sky turns orange or red.
Examples
- During a sunset, the sky looks orange because blue light has to travel through more air.
- If you're on a cloudy day, the sky might look gray because clouds reflect all colors of light equally.
- On a clear day, the sky is mostly blue because blue light scatters in every direction.
See also
- What Causes the Tides Exactly?
- Why Do We Have Different Seasons?
- What Causes a Volcano to Erupt?
- How Does a Battery Work?
- Why Do We Yawn When We're Tired?
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Categories: Science · optics· atmosphere· light · Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.