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As light travels through the atmosphere, hitting those molecules along the way, more and more of the shorter wavelengths are scattered. By the time the light reaches your eye, all the blue and violet has been scattered out, leaving only the longer wavelengths in the sky for you to see. That's why a setting sun turns the sky red, orange, yellow and all shades in between. All of that scattered blue and violet is busy creating a blue daytime sky somewhere else in a different time zone.
This is all happening in a clear sky, with mostly nitrogen and oxygen doing the scattering. If you add other molecules into the mix -- molecules in smog, for instance -- the picture starts to change.
Smog, technically speaking, is not the demon it's made out to be. Smog is simply a combination of the words "smoke" and "fog," and it comes from lots of different sources, some totally natural. It's composed mostly of aerosols, solid or liquid particles suspended in the sky. Volcanic eruptions produce heavy smog when they send tons of volcanic ash into the sky. Forest fires do the same when all of that burning matter billows upward, turning the sky nearly opaque.
These natural causes of smog are negligible in big cities, though. Factory and coal-power exhaust, car exhaust and leaking gas, as well as the byproducts of burning plastics and aerosol spray cans send far more particles into the atmosphere than any natural events do. This smog is a mixture of chlorofluorocarbons (greenhouse gases), hydrocarbons, sulfuric acid and lots of other unpleasant pollutants [source: Health and Energy]. In major cities, smog is this human-made mixture of chemicals.
Here's where the confusion comes in. Whereas volcanic smog and forest-fire smog are composed of fairly uniform aerosols, man-made smog is composed of countless different molecules and different types of matter, and all of these aerosol particles vary in size. Size is the deciding factor in whether aerosols enhance a sunset's colors or hinder them.
When something like a volcanic eruption sends particles into the air, it produces smog that blocks only certain wavelength of light. As sunlight moves through this atmosphere, it encounters nitrogen and oxygen, which scatter the blue end of the spectrum, and volcanic ash, which is larger and scatters a good amount of the longer yellow wavelengths, too. What results is an incredibly red sunset until the ash clears.
But smog from a smoke stack or car is composed of particles of so many different sizes, the scattering is nearly indiscriminant. Rayleigh scattering is no longer in effect, since instead of the atmosphere scattering only certain wavelength as sunlight passes through it, it scatters everything. The aerosols in smog are varied, and relatively large, to the point that they can scatter every wavelength of light. The result is a sunset with no colors at all. The sky is simply a hazy, grayish white, with all of the yellow, orange and red having been scattered out before they could reach the eye.
Chances are, if you're seeing an especially colorful sunset in L.A., it's because the smog is low that day, not because it's heavy.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoyes the sun is the reason that the sky is blue because the sun's light goes through the water vapor in the air and goes strait through all the other color pigments in the water vapor exept the light blue pigmet for some reason, therefore the sky is blue. Flying Pigs ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoNo, the sky isn't blue because of air pollution it is blue because of the water particles reflecting of the sunlight which makes the sky blue
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoNo. The blueness of the sky is an indication of how free it is of dust and other particles. The blue color is caused by scattered light.
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What happens when particles and gas molecules in the atmosphere reflect and bend solar rays?
The process of scattering occurs when small particles and gas molecules diffuse part of the incoming solar radiation in random directions without any alteration to the wavelength of the electromagnetic energy. This factor also causes our sky to look blue because this color corresponds to those wavelengths that are best diffused. If scattering did not occur in our atmosphere the daylight sky would be black.
Why is the sky blue in a funny way?
It is blue due to scattering in the Earth's atmosphere. It may look funny due to impurities or pollution in the atmosphere.
Why is earth's atmosphere is blue?
Earth's atmosphere appears blue because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. When sunlight enters Earth's atmosphere, the shorter (blue) wavelengths of light are scattered more than the longer (red) wavelengths. This scattering causes the blue light to be scattered in all directions, making the sky appear blue to observers on the surface.
What reflects energy from the sun in the atmosphere?
Water. The actual is Clouds, gases and dust reflects 25% of the incoming sun light. Clouds reflect light back to space. Dust particles and gases reflect light in all directions in a process called scattering. Gas particles scatter shorter wavelengths of visible light (blue and violet), and that is why the sky is blue.
Why sky is blue because?
Sunlight interacting with the Earth's atmosphere makes the sky blue. In outer space the astronauts see blackness because outer space has no atmosphere.Sunlight consists of light waves of varying wavelengths, each of which is seen as a different color. The minute particles of matter and molecules of air in the atmosphere intercept and scatter the white light of the sun. A larger portion of the blue color in white light is scattered, more so than any other color because the blue wavelengths are the shortest.When the size of atmospheric particles are smaller than the wavelengths of the colors, selective scattering occurs-the particles only scatter one color and the atmosphere will appear to be that color. Blue wavelengths especially are affected, bouncing off the air particles to become visible.This is why the sun looks yellow from Earth (yellow equals white minus blue). In space, the sun appears white because there is nothing in between to scatter its white light.At sunset, the sky changes color because as the sun drops to the horizon, sunlight has more atmosphere to pass through and loses more of its blue wavelengths. The orange and red, having the longer wavelengths and making up more of sunlight at this distance, are most likely to be scattered by the air particles.The scattering of visible light by atmospheric gases is most correctly called the Tyndall effect, but it is more commonly known to physicists as Rayleigh scattering after Lord Rayleigh, who studied it in more detail a few years later. Rayleigh Scattering is where red, orange, yellow, and green are passed through and blue, indigo, and violet are "scattered" out creating the color.Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.(*As for why the sky does not appear violet -- the wavelength most scattered -- see the explanation at the related link below.)Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.The sky appears blue to us because of the scattering of the blue light component of the light from the Sun. Some alpine lakes also appear a quite light blue colour for the same reason, light is scattered by tiny suspended flakes of minerals in the water.Because the water particles in the air split the light and Blue light is dispersed the furthest that's why it creates the illusion the sky is blue
What is an example of light scattering?
An example is the short wavelengths of sunlight which are blue are scattered by particles in the atmosphere, making the sky blue.
Why is skey blue?
The blue light is scattered by the air molecules in the atmosphere (referred to as Rayleigh scattering). The blue wavelength is scattered more, because the scattering effect increases with the inverse of the fourth power of the incident wavelength.
What happens when particles and gas molecules in the atmosphere reflect and bend solar rays?
The process of scattering occurs when small particles and gas molecules diffuse part of the incoming solar radiation in random directions without any alteration to the wavelength of the electromagnetic energy. This factor also causes our sky to look blue because this color corresponds to those wavelengths that are best diffused. If scattering did not occur in our atmosphere the daylight sky would be black.
Why is the sky blue in a funny way?
It is blue due to scattering in the Earth's atmosphere. It may look funny due to impurities or pollution in the atmosphere.
Why do astronauts in orbit around Earth see a black sky with stars that do not twinkle but see a blue earth?
Stars twinkle due to the scattering effect of earth's atmosphere. In space this is no atmosphere, thus they do not twinkle. The sky is black in space because there is no scattering of light as there is in the atmosphere. The earth appears blue from space due to the color of the gases in the atmosphere, and their reflected light on large bodies of water.
Why is earth's atmosphere is blue?
Earth's atmosphere appears blue because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. When sunlight enters Earth's atmosphere, the shorter (blue) wavelengths of light are scattered more than the longer (red) wavelengths. This scattering causes the blue light to be scattered in all directions, making the sky appear blue to observers on the surface.
What is reyleigh scattering?
Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon where light is dispersed or scattered in all directions when it encounters particles or molecules that are much smaller than the wavelength of the light. This scattering is responsible for the blue color of the sky during the day, as shorter blue wavelengths are scattered more than longer wavelengths.
Why the sky red during sunset?
The sky is red because the blue light scattered during the day is too diluted, and the red light normally not scattered much is so spread that we can see it. This is all about something called "Rayleigh scattering".Rayleigh scattering occurs when light scatters off of small particles in the atmosphere. Rayleigh scattering is "isotropic" and favors shorter wavelengths which means that blue light is more likely to scatter than red light.During the day, this is the reason the sky is blue as the blue wavelengths tend to scatter off of particles in the atmosphere and into our eyes while the red wavelengths pass by over head (or directly into our eyes as part of the image of the sun).However, when the sun is setting, the light must travel through more atmosphere, and this scatters the blue wavelengths so much we don't even see them, but the red wavelengths are finally scattered enough to be seen in the air.
Why the sky is red during the sunset?
The sky is red because the blue light scattered during the day is too diluted, and the red light normally not scattered much is so spread that we can see it. This is all about something called "Rayleigh scattering".Rayleigh scattering occurs when light scatters off of small particles in the atmosphere. Rayleigh scattering is "isotropic" and favors shorter wavelengths which means that blue light is more likely to scatter than red light.During the day, this is the reason the sky is blue as the blue wavelengths tend to scatter off of particles in the atmosphere and into our eyes while the red wavelengths pass by over head (or directly into our eyes as part of the image of the sun).However, when the sun is setting, the light must travel through more atmosphere, and this scatters the blue wavelengths so much we don't even see them, but the red wavelengths are finally scattered enough to be seen in the air.
Why colour of sea is blue?
because of scattering of light
Why is the colour of sea blue?
because of scattering of light
Why is the sky blue at midday and red at sunset?
Blue sky is due to 'Rayleigh scattering', which is 'blue shift' of the light (a Doppler 'compression' effect) on interaction with the particles forming the ionosphere and atmosphere. Red shift it when the atmosphere is rotating away from the sun's light so the waves are red shifted (a Doppler 'dilation' or extension effect). The scientific basis of this is assumed and considered as well understood by most but in fact is not. For instance there is sometimes a 'green flash' as the sun sets. We do not know precisely what causes it.
