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Physics Of Sunset Research Paper

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When you picture a sunset you may only see the beauty behind it. Often times you may not look at a sunset and wonder why the sun sets the way it does. The answer is physics. Physics is in every sunset and makes the sunset the way it is. The first change you see when viewing this stunning phenomenon-taking place is the coloration of the sun. According to the physics of sunsets, “On an airless world like the Moon, the Sun at sunset would look no different than at any other time” (Ethan, 2013). In reality, we are not in an airless world and our atmosphere is what makes the sunsets so spectacular and looking nothing like the sun at all when it sets. In order to reach our eyes, the sun needs an immense amount of light to pass through our atmosphere. …show more content…

To our eyes, sunsets often appear reddish in color in their final stages which is all based on wavelengths; “As the sun drops towards the horizon, it progressively loses violets and blues, then greens and yellows, and finally even the oranges, leaving only the reds behind” (Ethan, 2013). High frequency waves, or the GBIV of ROYGBIV, are scattered more easily through our atmosphere. This is in comparison to the low frequency waves, or the ROY of ROYGBIV. If the sunset appears red why does the sky appear blue? The BIV end of the spectrum that is being scattered throughout our atmosphere is illuminating the sky making it appear blue to our eyes. Left on the visible spectrum fro sunsets are the low frequency wavelengths. Light is scattered quickly and all depends on can change depending on where you are in the atmosphere. It is no coincidence the sunset often looks the same on nights that has similar weather. Also, it is no coincidence that sunsets often look the same depending on where you are in the world. Although we may think were seeing the sunset as we snap a picture, the sun has already technically

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