

A rainbow is nature’s most magnificent display of the spectra of the

sunlight.
After a light drizzles, an observer with the Sun at his back, sees a
number of concentric coloured arcs hanging in the sky, the
common centre of these arcs lies on the line joining the Sun and the
observer. These arcs constitute the primary rainbow.
The inner edge of the primary rainbow is violet and the outer edge
is red. In addition, a bigger but a fainter rainbow is also seen. This
is called the secondary rainbow. The sequence of colours in the
secondary rainbow is the reverse of that in the primary rainbow,
i.e., the inner edge is red and the outer edge is violet.
Both these rainbows are formed by :
(i) Dispersion and
(ii) Internal reflection of the Sun’s rays in the rain drops suspended
in the atmosphere.
(a) Formation of Primary Rainbow
The primary rainbow is formed by the Sun’s rays under-going :
(i) one internal reflection inside the drop and
(ii) Two refractions at its surface [Fig.]
Let O be the centre of the raindrop upon which a parallel beam of
Sun’s rays is falling. Let us consider a ray which is : (i) refracted at
A (ii) internally reflected at B, again (iii) refracted at C and emerges
along CE. Let i and r be the angles of incidence and refraction at A.
Since OA = OB, the angle of incidence (i) at B = angle of refraction (r)
at A. Hence, angle of reflection at B equal r. Since BO = CO, angle of
incidence at C = r. Therefore, angle of emergence at C = i.

The deviation of the ray is (i – r) at A, (180o – 2r) at B and (i – r) at C.

Since all the deviations are clockwise, the total deviation is given by
    i  r    180o  2r    i  r  or    180o  4r  2i Hence, acute angle

between incidence and emergent ray, i.e.,   180o    = 180o – (180o

– 4r + 2i) or  = 4r – 2i …(1) For the deviation to be minimum,
d
di
 4r  2i   0 or 4  2  0 or
dr
di
dr 1

di 2
As  
sin i
sin r
, sin i =  sin r

  cos r 1/ 2
dr
Differentiating both sides w.r.t. ‘i’, we get cos i   cos r
di
or 2 cos i =  cos r or 4 cos2 i = 2 cos2 r = 2 (1 – sin2 r) = 2 - 2 sin2 r
2  1
or 4 cos i =  – sin i I =  – (1 – cos i) or cos i 
2 2 2 2 2 2
or
3
2  1
cos i  …(2) For red colour in case of water, r = 1.329 and as
3
sin i
such, from eqn. (2), i = 59.6o and from   , r = 40.5o Thus, (m)red
sin r
= 4r – 2i = 4(40.5)o – 2(59.6)o = 42.8o = 43o For violet colour in case
of water,  = 1.343 and as such, from eqn. (2), i = 58.8o, r = 39.6o
Thus, (m)violet = 40.8o = 41o
It is to be noted that  is minimum (m) for one angle of incidence
(im). Near, im,  varies slowly with i as shown in figure.
Hence, a number of parallel rays incident on the
drop at angles nearly equal to im, will suffer
roughly the same deviation (m) and emerge
from the top as a parallel beam. Therefore,
an eye pointed against these emergent rays
receives intense light. This is individually
true for rays of each colour.
(b) Formation of Secondary Rainbow
The secondary rainbow is formed when there occur :
(i) Two internal reflections inside the drop at B and C and
(ii) Two refractions at the surface of the drop at A and D [fig.].
Analysing the problem in the same way as before, it can be shown

2  1
that cos i  …(3)
8
Also, for water, (m)violet = 54o, (m)red = 51o
In the secondary rainbow, the order of colour is reverse of that in
the primary rainbow. A simple diagram showing these two rainbows
is given in fig.