An idealised raindrop forms a geometrically perfect sphere. Although such a form is one in a million in real-life, simplified geometrical raindrops help to make sense of rainbows and reveal general rules governing why they appear.
The insights that can be gained from exploring the geometry of raindrops apply to every rainbow, whilst the rainbows we come across in everyday life demonstrate that each individual case is unique.
Don’t forget that the idea of light rays is also a way to simplify the behaviour of light:
- The idea that light is made up of rays is so commonplace when describing and explaining rainbows that it is easily taken for granted.
- The idea of light rays is useful when trying to model how light and raindrops produce the rainbow effects seen by an observer.
- Light rays don’t exist in the sense that the term accurately describes a physical property of light. More accurate descriptions use terms like photons or waves.
Basics of raindrop geometry
- A line drawing of a spherical raindrop is the starting point for exploring how raindrops produce rainbows.
- The easiest way to represent a raindrop is as a cross-section that cuts it in half through the middle.
- A dot or small circle can be used to mark the centre whilst the larger circle marks the circumference.
- Marking the centre makes it easy to add lines that show the radius and diameter.
- Marking the centre also makes it easy to add lines that are normal to the circumference.
- A normal (or the normal) refers to a line drawn perpendicular to and intersecting another line, plane or surface.
- A normal is used in a diagram to connect the centre with a point where a ray strikes the circumference.
- The diameter of a circle is a line that passes through its centre and is drawn from the circumference on one side to the other.
- The radius of a circle is a line from the centre to any point on the circumference.
- The horizontal axis of a raindrop is a line drawn through its centre and parallel to incident light. The vertical axis intersects the horizontal at 900 and also passes through the centre point.
- The angle at which incident light strikes the surface of a raindrop can be calculated by drawing a line that shows where an incident ray strikes a droplet and then drawing the normal. The angle of incidence is measured between them.
- The path of light as it strikes the surface and changes direction as it is refracted at the boundary between air and water can be calculated using the Law of Refraction (Snell’s law).
- When light is refracted as it enters a droplet it bends towards the normal.
- The law of reflection can be used to calculate the change of direction each time light reflects off the inside surface of the raindrop.
- When light exits a raindrop the angle of refraction is the same as when it entered but this time bends away from the normal.