Jessica Sooknanan
Have you ever wondered why rainbows appear in the sky after a storm?
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Believe it or not, 5-year-old Anson Wong can explain exactly why that happens.
Most of us look at a rainbow and admire it because of how pretty it looks in the sky. But Anson looks at a rainbow and sees much, much more. He sees light coming from the sun hitting droplets of water in the sky, which refract the light causing it to separate into the different colors of the visible spectrum.
Yep, and he’s just 5 years old.
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Anson Explains Rainbows
“It’s because of sun mixing with rain,” Anson explained. “Let’s say it’s summer and it rained with mist. It will create a rainbow.”
When light enters a raindrop, it can bend, or refract by bouncing off the edge of the raindrop, Anson explained. That’s when color separation can occur.
“Did you know that the sun releases white light?” asked Anson. “The rainbow is a combination of white. White holds up all these colors.”
He also explained that visible light it just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can even name all the different types of waves present in the electromagnetic spectrum.
“The electromagnetic spectrum contains the broadcast waves, which are the longest, and then radio waves, microwaves, infared, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays, visible light, or red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, which is ROY-G-BIV, all the way to cosmic waves,” said Anson.
One thing is for sure: we will never look at a rainbow the same way again!
Check out a full transcript of Anson’s explanation of why rainbows form below:
“It’s because of the sun mixing with rain. Let’s say it’s summer and it rains with mist. It will create a rainbow. And the light bends, refracts, like this.
Did you know that the sun releases white light? The rainbow is a combination of white. White holds up all these colors.
It bounces off the other edge of the raindrop. Not this edge, but this edge.
The electromagnetic spectrum contains the broadcast waves, which are the longest, and then radio waves, microwaves, infared, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays, visible light, or red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, which is ROY-G-BIV, all the way to cosmic waves.”
Anson’s Answers features 5-year-old whiz kid Anson Wong. He has a college-level grasp on various areas of science, dreams of becoming the president and can speak multiple languages. Did you catch that he’s just 5 years old? Anson has a passion for teaching others and loves to share videos explaining the human body, the laws of physics and his ideas for the future. Grab a seat, because Professor Anson’s class is in session!
Stay in touch with Anson by following him on Facebook!
