🔬 Science

How one drop makes a rainbow, in four steps

White sunlight hits a raindrop, bends inward, reflects off the back wall, and comes out as six colours. Multiply by millions of drops — and you have a rainbow.

1 Sunlight 2 Bends in 3 Reflects 4 Six colours the sun one raindrop
Six rainbow colours
White sunlight
Raindrop
42°
always the angle between sun and arc
6 colours
in every single rainbow
2 bends
light flexes twice inside one drop