Rayleigh Scattering
The terms scattering means a change of direction of a particle because a collision with another particle. But what if that collision involves a massless particle such as the photon?
In physics, there are two major types of scattering that involves the elastic 'collisions' of photons with particles
In this lesson we will concentrate on Rayleigh Scattering (Mie scattering in a future video)
In physics, there are two major types of scattering that involves the elastic 'collisions' of photons with particles
- Rayleigh scattering - where the particles that cause the scattering are smaller than the wavelngth of the incoming radiation.
This is the one responsible for our blue sky - Mie scattering - where the particles are spherical and roughly the size of the wavelength of the incoming scattering
- non-selective scattering
In this lesson we will concentrate on Rayleigh Scattering (Mie scattering in a future video)
This video belows examine the behaviour of Rayleigh scattering in the context why the sky is blue during the day, and why sunrises and sunset are red-orange.
The video to the left is a 60 sec short which will give you a very brief overview.
The video to the left is a 60 sec short which will give you a very brief overview.