Science U
Why Is the Sunset Red?
Season 4 Episode 1 | 2mVideo has Closed Captions
Jess and her mom share their curiosity about sunlight and colors and how they travel to our eyes.
Why is the sunset red? Jess and her mom share their curiosity about sunlight and colors and how they travel from to our eyes.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Science U is a local public television program presented by WPSU
Science U
Why Is the Sunset Red?
Season 4 Episode 1 | 2mVideo has Closed Captions
Why is the sunset red? Jess and her mom share their curiosity about sunlight and colors and how they travel from to our eyes.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[gulls calling] [wheelchair rolls up] JESS: Wow, Mom!
Look at that sunset.
It's just like a watercolor painting!
MOTHER: Do you ever think about why it's so pink and red?
JESS: No, but I bet my very smart mother is going to tell me.
MOTHER: [chuckles] I bet you know more than you think.
Just look where the sun is now.
JESS: Very low in the horizon!
MOTHER: Uh-huh.
And what can you tell me about light and colors?
JESS: Huh?
MOTHER: How about that crystal that hangs in your bedroom window?
JESS: Oh, yeah!
When the sunlight hits it, it makes rainbows on the wall.
It splits the light into different colors!
MOTHER: Mm-hmm.
That's right!
Light comes in different colors at different wavelengths.
Do you remember the order?
JESS: That's easy.
ROYGBIV.
The colors go red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
MOTHER: Right!
Red and orange have long wavelengths of light.
And on the other end, the blue and violet wavelengths are shorter.
JESS: So if the sky is blue and the sunset is red, something's going on.
MOTHER: Well, the light's not going through a crystal, but what's it going through?
JESS: Air?
The atmosphere?
MOTHER: Yes.
The particles in the atmosphere are just the right size to scatter the blue light.
JESS: Over the whole sky?
Wow!
MOTHER: So, with the sun so low-- JESS: We're further away?
MOTHER: The light travels further to our eyes.
There's more atmosphere to take out the blue.
What's left over?
JESS: The red!
MOTHER: Yep!
It's like a magical filter.
JESS: It certainly looks magical, but it's not, is it, Mom?
MOTHER: It's-- BOTH: Science!
JESS: Science is all around us.
MOTHER: For more ideas, visit science-u.org.
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Science U is a local public television program presented by WPSU