Lucknow

Session
2017-18

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mr.Nikhil sir Divyansh Tomar

Other group members:

Richa,Anshika,Pulkit, Deeparti
When light enters from one medium to another, there
is a deviation in its path. This phenomenon is called
refraction of light. Atmosphere is composed of layers
of various optical densities. Because of this, light rays
passing through various layers of atmosphere; get
deviated,then refraction of light takes place. This
refraction of light by the earth's atmosphere is called
"atmospheric refraction".This refraction is due to the
velocity of light through air, decreasing (the refractive
index increases) with increased density. Atmospheric
refraction near the ground produces mirages and can
make distant objects appear to shimmer or ripple,
elevated or lowered, stretched or shortened, with no
mirage involved. Many interesting phenomenon occur
due to atmospheric refraction.

Phenomenons caused by atmospheric

refraction are:-
 Twinkling of star:- The twinkling of a star is due to
atmospheric refraction of starlight. The starlight, on
entering the earth's atmosphere, undergoes refraction
continuously before it reaches the earth. The
atmospheric refraction occurs in a medium of gradually
changing refractive index. Since the atmosphere bends
starlight towards the normal, the apparent position of
the star is slightly different from its actual position.
The star appears slightly higher (above) than its actual
position when viewed near the horizon.

Further, this apparent position of the star is not

stationary, but keeps on changing slightly, since the
physical conditions of the earth's atmosphere are not
stationary. Since the stars are very distant, they
approximate point-sized sources of light. As the path of
rays of light coming from the star goes on varying
slightly, the apparent position of the star fluctuates
and the amount of starlight entering the eye flickers,
i.e. the star sometimes appears brighter, and at some
other time, fainter, which gives the twinkling effect.
Advance sunrise and delayed sunset
The Sun is visible to us about 2 minutes before the actual sunrise, and
about 2 minutes after the actual sunset because of atmospheric refraction.
By actual sunrise, we mean the actual crossing of the horizon by the Sun.
Fig. 11.10 shows the actual and apparent positions of the Sun with respect
to the horizon. The time difference between actual sunset and the apparent
sunset is about 2 minutes. The apparent flattening of the Sun’s disc at
sunrise and sunset is also due to the same phenomenon.
Due to atmospheric refraction there is apparent rise in the position of
the Sun as depicted in the fig below

Scattering of Light
by small particles and molecules in the atmosphere

Different from reflection, where radiation is deflected in one direction,

some particles and molecules found in the atmosphere have the ability to
scatter solar radiation in all directions. The particles/molecules which
scatter light are called scatterers and can also include particulates made by
human industry.
Selective scattering (or Rayleigh scattering) occurs when certain particles
are more effective at scattering a particular wavelength of light. Air
molecules, like oxygen and nitrogen for example, are small in size and thus
more effective at scattering shorter wavelengths of light (blue and violet).
The selective scattering by air molecules is responsible for producing
our blue skies on a clear sunny day.
Another type of scattering (called Mie Scattering) is responsible for the
white appearance of clouds. Cloud droplets with a diameter of 20
micrometers or so are large enough to scatter all visible wavelengths more
or less equally. This means that almost all of the light which enters clouds
will be scattered. Because all wavelengths are scattered, clouds appear to
be white.

When clouds become very deep, less and less of the incoming solar
radiation makes it through to the bottom of the cloud, which gives these
clouds a darker appearance.

Why is the sky blue

A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light
from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at
sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out
and away from the line of sight.The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours
of the rainbow. This was demonstrated by Isaac Newton, who used a prism to
separate the different colours and so form a spectrum. The colours of light are
distinguished by their different wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges
from red light with a wavelength of about 720 nm, to violet with a wavelength of
about 380 nm, with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The three
different types of colour receptors in the retina of the human eye respond most
strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths, giving us our colour vision.

Sunsets

When the air is clear the sunset will appear yellow, because the light from the sun has
passed a long distance through air and some of the blue light has been scattered away.
If the air is polluted with small particles, natural or otherwise, the sunset will be more
red. Sunsets over the sea may also be orange, due to salt particles in the air, which are
effective Tyndall scatterers. The sky around the sun is seen reddened, as well as the
light coming directly from the sun. This is because all light is scattered relatively well
through small angles—but blue light is then more likely to be scattered twice or more
over the greater distances, leaving the yellow, red and orange colours.
 Tyndall Effect:
John Tyndall was the first one to explain about the color of the sky in the year
1859. He stated that the color blue shatters more than that of red due to the shorter
wavelength in a case where the light has to pass through a clear fluid that contains
suspended small particles. Our planet earth consists of various mixtures of particles
like smoke, molecules of air, dust particles and water droplets. These diffused
particles reflect the light before it reaches the earth. The scattering of the light by
the colloidal particles is known as the Tyndall effect. The size of the particles
determines the color of the scattered light. This statement can be proved with the
help of a simple experiment. Allow a beam of light to pass through a tank of water
with a slight mixture of soap or milk in it. If you watch the beam from a side you
can notice that the beam scatters blue light but when you thoroughly observe the
beam from the end then you will find that the beam is reddened after it has passed
through the tank

The scattering of the light can also be shown with the help of filter than can depict
the polarized light. This is similar to the appearance of the sky which seems darker
when watched through a polaroid sun glass.