Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
How far away is a rainbow after a storm?
Every rainbow I've ever seen after a storm and when the sun shines through, seems to be at the same distance each time. I would estimate about 400-500 meters. Also, it remains the same distance away from you as you move closer, hence the reason you never find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
So I was wondering if there was a constant for this distance that light has to be from the sun reflecting back through the prism of a raindrop, to the viewer in order to create the rainbow.
1 Answer
- Michel VerheugheLv 710 years agoFavorite Answer
A rainbow is an optical illusion from the scattering of the visible light. It seems to be at a certain distance because, on the ground, you see only half the rainbow since it is only visible when the sun is lower than 40 degrees over the horizon. This is because the rainbow, in itself, is a circle with a radius of roughly 40 degrees. When I fly my little aircraft right over the clouds, I sometimes see the rainbow as a circle around the shadow of my aircraft on the cloud.
This is why you can never reach the rainbow, nor find the pot of god, of course. The rainbow doesn't have a distance. If e.g. you use a garden spreader with the sun light behind you, you may see a rainbow in the droplets of water. It will be much "closer" since the water is also very close.