Eli5 why rainbows appears in a curved shape? Why isn’t it just a random streak in the sky? What causes their signature curved look?

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Eli5 why rainbows appears in a curved shape? Why isn’t it just a random streak in the sky? What causes their signature curved look?

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A circle is defined as the shape for which every point is the same distance from the center.

All rainbows take the shape of a circle because they occur due to light bending at a particular angle from the light path. Because the angle depends on the distance from the center, every point with the right refraction angle will be at the same distance from the center of the light path which will then produce a visible circle, the rainbow. It just happens to be that often this center of the light path is low enough that you can only see about half the circle.

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