Meteorology             Natural Science 1005

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Topic 13: Atmospheric Optics   

Please note: the questions listed are not the only items that you need to know. The questions point out basic information to help understand some topics, some concepts that may not be obvious to all students, and some of the more difficult concepts.

Websites

• Great all-around site
• Weatherscapes--focuses on photos
• More nice photos
• University of Illinois online guide
• Interactive

Reflection and scattering

• How are reflection and scattering similar? How are they different?
• Why are clouds white?
• Why are some clouds dark at the bottom?
• Why is beer foam white? (the rest of the beer is dark...hmmm)
• Why is sand/dirt darker when wet?
• What is the best color for fog lights on your car?
• Why is a hazy sky whitish?
• Why is the summer sky whiter than the winter sky?
• Why is the sky blue?
• Why are clouds sometimes reddish at sunset/sunrise?  

Refraction

• Describe refraction
• Why do stars twinkle?
• Why does a road sometimes appear wet?
• What causes a halo around the sun?
• What causes sun dogs?

Rainbows

• How does light interact with drops to form a rainbow?
• When you see a rainbow, where are you, the sun, and the rainbow located with respect to each other?
• When you look at a rainbow, how can you tell how high in the sky is the sun?