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Natural Phenomena: Rainbow
Concepts tested here
- Dispersion and internal reflection in drops
All Questions
2000 AIPMT 1 question
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Rainbow is formed due to :Sunlight entering a raindrop is refracted and dispersed into its colours, because the refractive index of water is different for different colours.
The light is then reflected from the back surface of the drop (internal reflection) and refracted again as it comes out, separating the colours further.
Each colour emerges at a particular angle (about $40^\circ$–$42^\circ$ for the primary bow), so we see a band of colours.
So, as per the answer key, the rainbow is formed due to total internal reflection and dispersion.