Rayleigh Scattering is a phenomenon that occurs when light or other electromagnetic radiation interacts with small particles in a medium, typically much smaller than the wavelength of the light. This scattering process is responsible for the blue color of the sky, as shorter wavelengths of light (blue and violet) are scattered more effectively than longer wavelengths (red and yellow). The intensity of the scattered light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength, described by the equation:
where is the intensity of scattered light and is the wavelength. This means that blue light is scattered approximately 16 times more than red light, explaining why the sky appears predominantly blue during the day. In addition to atmospheric effects, Rayleigh scattering is also important in various scientific fields, including astronomy, meteorology, and optical engineering.
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