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Why are rainbows curved?

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To understand the curvature of rainbows, you’ll need to switch your mind to its three-dimensional-thinking mode. Cecil Adams of the newspaper column The Straight Dope explained it this way: We’re used to thinking of rainbows as basically two-dimensional, but that’s an illusion caused by a lack of distance cues. read more

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. read more

Rainbows are quite rare, since you need to have a sunny and rainy day at the same time. I’ve often wondered why rainbows are always curved, rather than in a straight line, or even a square, but to understand this natural phenomenon properly, we need to know why a rainbow is formed in the first place. read more

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Why are rainbows curved? | Earth | EarthSky
Source: earthsky.org