AminaYoussef

BriannaGarcia
RainbowLab

Abstract:
Inthisprojectwetestedhowthewaterdropletsizeaffectsthevisibilityofarainbow.
Wealsotestedhowtheanglecanaffectifthereisarainbowornot.Themotivationforthis
projectcamefromourinterestinrainbows.Wehavealwayswantedtoknowhowtheyare
formed,andwhytheycansometimesbemorevisiblethanothertimes.Afterdoingalotof
research,wefoundthatrainbowsareformedwhenthesunlightandtheraincombinesina
specificway.Eachraindropactslikeaprism,andwhenthesunlightpassesthrougheach
raindropatjusttherightangle,theneachtinyprismreflectsthelight,creatingtherainbowthat
everyoneseesinthesky.Afterplayingaroundwithahoseandahosenozzle,wefoundthat
rainbowsbecomemorevisiblewhenthewaterdropletsizeissmaller.Thisisbecausethe
raindropsbecomemorewidelyspaced,andthecolorsreflectedthroughouteachwater
dropletbecomelesssaturated.Withlargerwaterdroplets,theshapeoftheraindropbecomes
slightlyflattened.Sinceitisharderfortheraystofullypassthroughtheflatterwaterdroplets,
theraysbecomemoresaturated,creatingalessvisiblerainbow.Overallthisprojectwasfun
andsimple,andledtoresultsthatweneverwouldhaveexpected.

Introduction:
Rainbowsareformedwhenthesunlightandraincombineinaveryspecificway.After
itrains,theairintheatmosphereisfilledwithraindrops.Eachraindropactslikeatinyprism.If
sunlightpassesthroughatjusttherightangle,thelightwillsplitintoanarcofcolorswithred
ontheoutsideofthearc,andvioletontheinside.Eachindividualdropletofwateractsasa
tinyprismthatbothseparatesthelightandreflectsitbacktoyoureye.Eachcoloroflightis
associatedwithawavelength,andthelongestwavelengthsareseenasredlight.Asthe
wavelengthdecreases,thecolorchangestoorange,yellow,green,blue,indigo,andthen
finally,violet,orinotherwords,thelastcoloroftherainbow.Toviewarainbow,yourback
mustbetothesunasyoulookatanapproximately40degreeangleabovetheground.When
thesunis42degreesup,therainbowwillbeonthehorizonorclosetoit.Ifthesungets
higher,therainbowwillbebelowthehorizonandyouwon'tbeabletoseeit.Arainbows
positiondependsonthelocationoftheobserverandthepositionoftheSun.Sometimesitis
evenpossibletoseeasecondarcordoublerainbow.Thisiscausedbyadoublereflection
ofsunlightinsidetheraindrops.Thedoublereflectioncausesthecolorsofasecondrainbow
toarrangeintheoppositeorderofthecolorsonaprimaryarc.

Question:
Howdoesthedropletsizeofthewatereffectwhetherornotthereisrainbow?

Hypothesis:
Ourhypothesisisthatthelargerthedropletsofwater,thebrightertherainbow.Wesaythis
becausewhenthereislargerdroplets,therewillbemoreroominsideeachdroplettoreflect
offmorelight,therefore,makingtherainbowmorevisible.

Materials:
Ahose
Ahosenozzle
Aninclinometer
Thesun

Methods/Results:
Forthislab,weusedahosewithahosenozzleattachedtoit.Oneofusheldthe
hose,withourbacktothesun,andoneofusheldtheinclinometernexttothehoseto
measuretheangleofthehoseandwater.Thepersonholdingthehoseswitchedthesettings
backandforthonthehosenozzletotestthewaterdropletsize,toseehowthewaterdroplet
sizewouldaffectwhetherornotthereisarainbow.Aftertestingbothoftheangleandthe
waterdropletsize,wecametotwoconclusionsthatyoucanseebelow.

Angle:
Afterplayingaroundalotwiththeangleofthewater,wefoundthatarainbowisonly
seenwhenyourbackistothesun.Ifyouarefacingthesun,youwontbeabletoseeany
rainbow,however,youmightbeblindedbythereflectionofthesunontothewater.When
yourbackistothesun,theangleseemstonotmatter.Thewatercanbeashighasone

wantsintheair,oraslowasonewants,anditwontchangethevisibilityoftherainbow.The
onlythingthatmatters,iswhatdirectionyouarefacing.

WaterDroplets
:
Thehosenozzlehadnine
settingsonit,thateachprojected
differentsizesofwaterdroplets.
Everysetting,besidesthetwo
settings,jetandsoaker,produceda
rainbow.Wefoundthatthereasonjet
andsoakerdidntproducearainbow,
wasbecausethewaterdropletswere
toobigtocreateareflection.On
settingsthatproducedsmallerwater
droplets,youcouldseeadouble
rainbow,andtherainbowsalso
becamemorevisible,asseenin
Figure1(seeright).Thesmallerthe
waterdroplets,themorevisiblethe
rainbow.Therainbowbecamethemostvisibleonthetwosettingsthatproducedthesmallest
waterdroplets,mistandcone.

Discussion:
Inconclusion,wehavefoundthatmyhypothesiswaswrong.Inourhypothesis,we
statedthatwethoughtthelargerthewaterdropletsize,thebrighterormorevisiblethe
rainbow.Wethoughtthisbecausewebelievedthatiftherewasmoreroomforlighttoreflect
insideeachrainbow,thentheoverallresultwouldbebrighter.However,afterdoingthis
experiment,wehavefoundthatitisactuallythecompleteopposite.Wehavefoundthatthe
smallerthewaterdropletsize,themorevisibletherainbow.

Thishappenedbecauseasdropsofwaterbecomesmaller,severalthingshappen.For
starters,theraindropsbecomemorewidelyspaced,andthecolorsreflectedthroughouteach
waterdropletbecomelesssaturated.Eventually,whenthewaterdropletsgetsupersmall,
thereisnolongerarainbow,butinsteadabrightcloudbow,orfogbowofcolors.Thesmaller
thewaterdroplets,themoreroundtheybecome.Withrounderwaterdroplets,itbecomes
easierforthelightraystopassthrougheachdropofwater.Sinceitiseasierforthelightrays
topassthrough,theoverallrainbowbecomesbrighter.

Whenraindropsbecomelarger,theybecomeslightlyflattened.Theraysthatformat
thetopoftherainbow,havetopassthroughtheflattenedverticalcrosssectioninsideeach
largerraindrop.Sinceitisharderfortheraystofullypassthroughtheflatterwaterdroplets,

theraysbecomemoresaturated.Althoughlargerraindropshavemorespacefortheraysto
passthroughthem,theshapeeachindividualdropletstartstodevelopthrowsofftherays
courseofaction.Therefore,thelargerthewaterdroplets,thelessvisibletherainbow.

Weareconfidentintheresultsthatweseemedtocomeupwithbecauseafterhoursof
research,theresultsseemtobetrue.Likeinourexperiment,otherpeoplehavefoundthat
youcanonlyseearainbowwithyourbacktothesun.Itisalsotruethatthesmallerthewater
dropletsize,thebrightertherainbow.Thisexperimentwasalittleunprofessional,becauseit
seemedtobeveryeasytofindtheresults.Ifweweretodothisexperimentagain,Iwouldtry
toformabettertestingquestion,sotheexperimentcouldbehardertodo,andtheresults
wouldbecomemoresurprising.

Overall,thisprojectwentwell,andwelearnedalotthroughoutthisprojectbetween
lightwaves,andcolorrays.Webothdidnthavemuchofabackgroundonrainbowsbefore
thisproject,however,nowwewillbeabletolookbackattheskyafterarainydayandknow
whyweareseeingthevibrantcolorsintheskythatisknownasthebeautifulrainbow.