Aristotle in Meteorology describes the formation of the rainbow, I will not quote his reasoning, but I can not agree. The rainbow is multicolored, in my opinion, it results from the action of water molecules on the way the prism works. The prism splits light waves into other colors, so there is an analogy between a certain concentration of water molecules and the behavior of the prism. What would make the water molecules behave like prisms?
Hi Piotr,
It's actually fine water droplets that act as prisms. Due to the refractive index of water, the shape of the droplets and the various relative speeds of light through different media, the colours are split in the spectrum as seen in the case of a classic glass prism. While it may be unclear from his exact wording, Aristotle did recognise that light can be split by passing through, or reflecting off, certain materials.
Cheers,
Laurence
Thank You.
Light slow down by passing through the water, it can pass through the glass as the prism is also slowing down and ot splits, and maybe the water molecules are prism shaped under appropriate conditions. The drops of water we see when it rains can deceive us as an epistemological obstacle
No problem Piotr. The shape of the fine water droplets (not the molecules) provide the varied path length required for a prism. To split light into it's colour spectrum you don't need the specific shape of a classic prism, just the the light hits at an angle and travels through the material over varied path lengths (different entering and exiting angles). This would easily be achieved through a spherical (or near spherical) droplet.
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