Do we see bands of color in a rainbow because of the physiology of eyes or the way the brain interprets the frequencies? or are those bands of separate colors a product of unequal refraction?
In: Physics
Rainbow is a continuous spectrum of colors, but do we see them as bands due to cognitive influence. We use categories and concepts to make things around us easier to parse or discern, so in the case of the rainbow see the colors as bands, even though it is a continuous thing.
I’m not sure I understand your question. None of the options you have listed are mutually exclusive so the answer is “yes to all”
Color is a subjective experience that our brains form. But our eyes are the mechanism that picks it up in the first place. Within our eyes we have cells that each reactive to different frequencies of light (specifically, red, blue, or green). Those cells then send a signal to the brain. The brain goes “alright a bunch of cells that pick up red are telling me they picked up something, I’m gonna say we are looking at something red”
If either our eyes or our brains function differently we would almost certainly see something entirely different than what we normally see. They are both important.
Infact, color blindness is caused by not having the correct cells in your eyes. And I’m sure there are people that have fully functional eyes but some kind of brain damage that changes their vision.
physics.
the colours are strictly linked to the wavelength of the light. a rainbow is just different wavelengths being refracted in water droplets, which creates a spectrum effect we can see.
now, the *names* and *distinctions* between colours are very much a social construct, in the sense that different cultures can group or split colours differently. we recognise 7 colours because Isaac newton believed in the magical properties of number 7, and added indigo as a colour into the rainbow so their were 7 colours
They are our eyes being able to identify the physics of the situation, the physics splits the light into different colours.
Quick answer – Yes to both.
**The biology** has to do with the way our eyes and brain and everything in between processes all the inputs and data. This can be light hitting the rod & cone cells. Then they give electrical or chemical signals through the optic nerve to the connected sections of the brain.
**The Physics** has to do with electromagnetic radiation (across the whole [Electromagnetic spectrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum) even though our eyes can only pick up a narrow range of that EM.
Yes.
> Do we see bands of color in a rainbow because of the physiology of eyes
Yes. You have different physical structures in your eyes that respond to different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. When they are struck by a photon of the appropriate frequency, they are stimulated and send a signal to your brain.
> or the way the brain interprets the frequencies?
Yes. Your perception of color is entirely constructed within your head. Your brain receives a signal from your optic nerve and builds your “image” based on the information it receives. What this means for the individual person and their perception of reality is actually a long-standing philosophical question: Does the “red” I see look the same to you? In other words: If you could someone look inside someone else’s brain and see their “image” of the world, would the colors look the same as what you see?
> or are those bands of separate colors a product of unequal refraction?
Yes. The color banding occurs because different frequencies of light are refracted differently by raindrops. This is a smooth gradient across the visible spectrum, and it’s consistent for all frequencies. Red light is bent the least, violet light the most, and that’s why the colors of the rainbow always show up in the same order and proportion.
Colors are just different wavelengths of light, within the range that our eyes can detect/process. So objectively, the rainbow is a product of light being split/refracted into many different wavelengths, some of which are in our vision range. But your own experience of color is totally subjective and “do you see the colors in the same way as I do” is a very classic philosophical question, with no answer.
The colors we see are, but the colors existence is not.
The full spectrum of a rainbow goes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, ROYGBV, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma rays
We can just see ROYGBV.
If we could see the other frequencies, we could classify them into other colors, but the visible light is only a very small.sliver of all possible light
All color perception is a product of how your eyes respond to certain wavelengths of light. However, there is absolutely nothing different about how rainbows work, that makes this color perception different from any other situation in life. So I expect you don’t need or want an explanation for how color perception works, as that would be a bit condescending.
I suspect you’re asking about whether there is an actual, physical difference in the light itself coming from a rainbow. The answer there is yes. The light truly is different. There really is red, orange, yellow, etc. light and it really is coming from different locations in the sky into your eyes. It is not an optical illusion created from how that light interacts with your eyes or how those signals are interpreted by your brain. The red part is actually… y’know… red. At least as much as anything else in life is red.
The raindrops in the air are working like tiny prisms. When sunlight hits them, they are splitting the white light into a spread of rainbow colors, just like those famous pictures of Newton splitting a light beam shining through a slit with a triangle of glass. All of the drops of water in the air are doing this, all around you, at the same time, in all directions.
But it is only a certain set of drops, at a very specific place in the sky, that are splitting those colors in just the right direction to shine direction into your eyes. That position is always at an angle of 138 degrees away from the sun, or perhaps more simply, 42 degrees upwards from the point opposite the sun in the direction you’re facing.
You should check out Technology Connections on Youtube. He has a number of fascinating videos on color.
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