Rainbow Size
So far we
I have discussed the size on the rainbow in terms of its angular
size. It should be clear that the angular size of a bow is the same
whether it it formedclose by in a garden sprinkler, for example, or
many miles away in a showerof rain. But "How big is a rainbow in
linear units such as centimeters, meters,of kilometers?" Because a
rainbow is formed from all the drops on the conessurface moving
toward or away from it, it will not alter the size of therainbow. The
reason for that is that an observer will view a different
rainbow.Also there is no way to reach the rainbow, and therefore
there is no wayto reach the end of a rainbow. And since there is no
way to reach a rainbow,then it must only be possible to view a
rainbow from one side.
This can be verified by looking at the conditions for a rainbow to form.Firstly there must be moisture in the atmosphere and secondly the light sourcemust be behind the observer. Therefore, if someone attempted to look at theother side of the rainbow they would need to be on the other side of thewater drops. So the light source would be in from of them, breaking the secondcondition. Moreover, if they could see a rainbow when standing on the otherside of the water drops, they would not be seeing the same rainbow.
This can be verified by looking at the conditions for a rainbow to form.Firstly there must be moisture in the atmosphere and secondly the light sourcemust be behind the observer. Therefore, if someone attempted to look at theother side of the rainbow they would need to be on the other side of thewater drops. So the light source would be in from of them, breaking the secondcondition. Moreover, if they could see a rainbow when standing on the otherside of the water drops, they would not be seeing the same rainbow.