Eli5: why is the sky blue most of the day but red during sense and sunrise.

Question

Eli5: why is the sky blue most of the day but red during sense and sunrise.

In: Physics

Answer 1

At any given time, when sunlight hits the Earth, a certain portion of the light is scattered. The scattering effect acts somewhat like a prism, scattering more blue, indigo and violet directly down, while red, orange and yellow gets scattered toward the edges. If you are standing near the edge of sunlight as it hits the Earth, it means that it is either sunrise or sunset.