Rainbow Child

This morning, on Radio One's Chris Moyles' show they were trying to explain a rainbow.  They got in a complete tizz with it and ended up saying that it's because the light reflects in the raindrops. Even though it was radio it was possible to visualise Chris sitting with his fingers in his ears singing, "la, la, la, la, la"


It wasn't the best start I've ever given my daughter to her day.  I'd gone into her room (the only room that allows Radio One in the house) only to start shouting, "REFRACTION.  IT'S REFRACTION YOU IDIOTS.  LIGHT IS MADE UP OF SEVEN COLOURS. THE RAINDROPS REFRACT THE LIGHT!"


I'm a fan of rainbows.  How can anyone look at a rainbow and not smile?

After shouting at the radio I realised that my knowledge of rainbows is also seriously lacking.  I don't know why they are curved.  If you shine light through a prism or a crystal the rainbow is a straight line.  Why do loads of individual raindrops make a bridge?


Looking for the answer on the internet has made me want to join Mr Moyles with my fingers in my ears, singing, "la, la, la, la"


This is what Yahoo answers has to say on the subject:

“The reason why the rainbow is curved is because all the angles in the water drop have to be just right for the drop to send some sunlight to you, standing on the ground. So, with the sun *behind* you, only those water droplets that have the same angle formed by you, the drop, and the sun (this angle happens to be approximately 42 degrees) will contribute to the rainbow. Other droplets send their light somewhere else, and if you move to a different location, new droplets are needed to make the rainbow you see in the new location. This is why you can’t go to the end of a rainbow to find the mythical leprechauns and pots of gold; anywhere you stand, the rainbow is formed by faraway drops of water reflecting and bending sunlight. The rainbow is curved because the set of all the raindrops that have the right angle between you, the drop, and the sun lie on a cone pointing at the sun with you at one tip.” 

Then I found this site.

http://milesmathis.com/rainbow.html

It says that the above explanation is out of date and that it is all to do with something called Alexander's band.  

At last something I can understand - I know a song about Alexander's Ragtime Band!

There's a New Age Theory that there are some children (called Rainbow Children) who have been sent to earth to help us.  Apparently, they are born after the year 2000 and they don't quite fit in.  They smile a lot and make other's smile and are prone to psychic events. Today, I started to wonder if I am teaching one of these children.  During the lesson she suddenly shouted, "It's raining!"  The rest of the class looked out of the window and discovered it wasn't and then all of a sudden the heaven's opened.  She does make me smile.