Question

Light coming from space, when enters the earth's atmosphere, gets scattered by the dust particles present in it. Here blue colour is scattered the most and red colour the least. Based on the above fact, try to explain the fact that sun turns red at the time of sunrise and sunset.

Answer 1

1. The color whose wavelength is more will scatter less.
2. Red color has more wavelength than blue light.
3. So, red colour scatters less and blue colour scatter most.
4. During sunrise and sunset, the sun is far away from the earth and the light coming out from the sun has to travel the maximum distance.
5. As a result, the light whose wavelength is more can travel the maximum distance without scattering.
6. That's why the red colour light travels maximum distance with the least scattering.
7. Hence, the sun appears red during sunrise and sunset.