Science

digonswine

(1,487 posts)

5. I don't believe so-

Thu Jul 26, 2012, 08:20 PM

Jul 2012

light from the sun strikes the balls of water and they refract and reflect it back to your eyes at that certain angle.
Imagine you are misting you garden near dusk, but with the sun out. Your back is to the sun. The sun's rays are basically running parallel to the ground surface.
When you see the rainbow, you see the light reflected at that(42?) angle from all angles. Think of a clock in front of you. The sun can be reflected from the 6 o'clock position back to your eyes, or the 12 o'clock position, or 3 or 9 or ALL positions. This is what you are seeing--not the curvature of the sun's surface.
This is quite hard to explain w/o diagrams!

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The Reason why the answer to the Universe is 42 [View all] Ichingcarpenter Jul 2012 OP

I have noticed this when the Sun is behind me and I'm watering my garden. Lint Head Jul 2012 #1

I don't believe so- digonswine Jul 2012 #5

Thanks! Great explaination. Now when I talk about it will sound like I know what I'm talking about. Lint Head Jul 2012 #10

There is one "part" of every rainbow that remains forever constant. TheMadMonk Jul 2012 #12

Hey, thanks. That was a lot I didn't know about Rainbows. And why 42 is important. freshwest Jul 2012 #2

That particular question didn't occur to the mice... targetpractice Jul 2012 #3

The mice were merrily manifestations Ichingcarpenter Jul 2012 #4

Who are you who is so wise in the ways of science? lumberjack_jeff Jul 2012 #6

LOL deutsey Jul 2012 #11

The reason why the answer is 42 is because it's not something else ... zbdent Jul 2012 #7

It's also the time (in minutes) pokerfan Jul 2012 #8

Origin of Dark Matter longship Jul 2012 #9