Doppler 9&10 STEM – Rainbows Take Over Northern Michigan

We have received a large amount of rainbow photos, keep them coming!! That is because conditions have been favorable for rainbows to form. When we start to see those pesky lake effect rain showers, they can often provide perfect conditions. We don’t see them often in the summertime because when it rains we deal with large complexes of thunderstorms that block the sun until the rain has passed. When dealing with lake effect rain the sun can be out while it is raining nearby.

When the sun’s visible light or white light passes through a raindrop, the drop acts as a prism and bends or refracts the light. When the light is bent, you can see white light broken into all the colors that make up white. They often can be identified as ROYGBIV or Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Those are the colors we see when we see a rainbow in our backyard. Here is a cool experiment you can do at home to see a rainbow any day of the week!

What you need:

• Clear Bowl (glass preferred)
• Small Mirror, Like a Makeup mirror
• Flashlight or Phone Light
• Tape
• White Paper
• A Few Extra Hands (good for two or more people)

How to:

1. Pour bowl halfway up with water
2. Place your mirror half underwater, Half is underwater, half is above water
3. Tape mirror to secure it
4. Place paper underneath the bowl and facing upright toward the mirror
5. Place paper anywhere else you want to test the backscatter of the light
6. Shine your light through the water at the half of the mirror underwater
7.  Look at your papers, what do you see? How pronounced is the rainbow?
8. Try more/less water
9. Try different angles
10. Try different light sources

If your kiddos try this experiment, send us photos of you and your experiment and you might get to see it during weather on The Four on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Make sure you tune in every Tuesday and Thursday for a New 9&10 STEM. Send us an email at weather@9&10news.com or find us on Facebook and at Doppler 9&10 Weather Team if you have a weather question or want something in science explained! It does not have to be weather-related! Anything Science or math-based we’ve got you! You can always get the latest forecast on 9and10news.com/weather as well as interact with us on social media!

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