What makes rainbows appear?

1sun + rain

Rainbows appear when sunlight meets raindrops floating in the air after a storm — light and water together make the magic.

2white light

White sunlight looks like one color, but it's secretly a mix of many colors bundled together.

3refraction

When light enters the raindrop it slows down and bends — that bending is called refraction, and it splits the colors apart.

4bounce + exit

Inside the drop, light bounces off the back wall like a tiny mirror, then bends again as it exits — sending each color out at its own angle.

5the arc

Millions of raindrops each send out their own color to your eye, stacking up red on top through violet on the bottom — a rainbow arc.