Why The Sky is Blue
Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue? This question has been on the back of my mind since preschool, so I thought I’d solve this mystery at last.
A quick Google search got my journey started. I found this article from NASA to explain why the sky is blue:
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/blue-sky/en/
This article explains that sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere, where the light hits molecules and particles in the air. Blue light has a smaller wavelength, so it is scattered around the most when it hits the particles in the air.
To help visualize it, think of the sun like a laser shooter. The sun shoots many different lasers (wavelengths of light) into the atmosphere. The different colored lasers reach the atmosphere, and the blue light lasers hit the air particles the most because it is the air’s “favorite laser”. Once the blue “lasers” hit the particles, they are scattered around the atmosphere. This is why the sky is blue.
That was the best example I could think of, so sorry if you don’t understand it. I am still a bit confused myself. NASA’s website explains why the sky is blue much better than I did (they are NASA, and I’m, well...not NASA).
Anyways, it feels good to finally check this question off of my list of unanswered questions.
And best of all, this makes a great conversation starter for all awkward occasions. Feel free to use it at your own risk.
I think it is important to understand how the world works because we cannot accept the answer of “that’s just the way things are”. We must use our curiosity to make discoveries and continue to learn more about the way our world works.
What questions have you wondered about but never had answered (comment below)?
Wow, I've always wanted to know why exactly the sky is blue, too. Thanks for sharing! A question I have always wondered but have never found an answer to is: Why do we dream? I learned in AP Psychology that dreams are believed to represent your unconscious desires, but it still isn't clear as to why we even do this and where some bizarre, seemingly irrelevant dreams come from.
ReplyDeleteYair, I am a VERY awkward person, so I really apreciate this amazing conversation starter. I also love having an interesting and educational reasoning. I have always wondered how time works, how does life feel like its going so fast / slow at times? How are we already juniors? Time is just crazy to me.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very funny and that it reflects Yair’s personality completely. I would have been able to tell who wrote this article without reading the name. It was very interesting and it is actually a question I have also always wondered. To answer Yair’s question, other questions I have wondered are what happens after you die and what animal is considered the most dangerous in the entire world?
ReplyDelete