Fact of the Day: 30/04/2021

What is really at the end of a rainbow? If you were expecting a pot of gold, I’m sorry to disappoint, but what you’ll actually find at the end of a rainbow is nothing, mainly because they do not have an end. Rainbows, much unlike the cartoon stereotypes of them in which leprechauns slide down their bows or turn them into marshmallows, are not solid, they are made of refracted light. When the air is moist with water vapor, and sunlight is shone on it at the right angle, the water refracts the light, creating a rainbow, or shall I say a rain-“circle.” The only reason we see a “bow” instead of an infinite circle is because the bottom is hidden from us by the horizon, however, viewers from airplanes or very high up may be able to see these circular rainbows. For this reason, rainbows have no end and thus no pot of gold waiting at it. Though, isn’t it so much more pleasant to think of an infinite loop of vivid color that we can never physically interfere with? 

 

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