• Question: do rainbows have cells

    Asked by 624cesk37 to Paul, Natasha, Eoin, Ester, Ildiko, Tom on 13 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by 283cesk37.
    • Photo: Paul McKeegan

      Paul McKeegan answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      Sadly, rainbows are not alive and are not made of cells!
      They are really made up of water droplets in the air. The water reflects and refracts white light, splitting it into the different colours. Reflection is when they light bounces back off a surface, refraction is when it travels through a transparent object, but bends on the way in. Like how a straw or a spoon appears in a glass of water.
      Have you ever seen a double rainbow? If you look carefully, you’ll see that the colours are reversed on the second rainbow as the light is reflected twice!

    • Photo: Ildiko Somorjai

      Ildiko Somorjai answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      Pretty sure they don´t! Unless there are small beasties in there among the water droplets…which I guess is possible! some tissues make “rainbows” though because of the way that the light hits their structure.

    • Photo: Eoin McKinney

      Eoin McKinney answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      Afraid not! rainbows come from light being broken up into different wavelengths (that we see as different colours) as it passes through water droplets in the sky. Thats why you see them when the sun shines after a rain shower.

      They do have pots of gold at the end, though….

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