Be prepared to be mesmerised with Rainbow Facts for Kids! If you love Rainbows, we bet you will adore these exciting and cool fun facts about rainbows.
Rainbows are exquisite and rare. These beautifully arched, colourful formations are a visual treat. And they are almost magical, hypnotising its viewers.
24 Fun Facts About Rainbow For Kids
We are sure you will love these rainbow facts for kids and will be looking at rainbows with more wonder than ever! From cool facts to scientific facts about rainbows, we have covered them all!
1. The word rainbow comes from Latin word ‘Arcus Pluvius’, meaning rainy arch.
2. Rainbows are full circles of light. But since you observe them from the ground, you only see a semi-circle.
3. Just like the Lunar Halo, no two people see the rainbow the same way.
4. Some rainbows occur upside down and are referred to as ‘Smile Rainbows’. They occur when sunlight is refracted by tiny ice crystals.
5. Issac Newton was the first person to explain the occurrence of rainbows.
6. Rainbows can occur at night as well, though they are extremely rare. Rainbows occurring at night are called Moonbows.
7. The lower the Sun is in the sky, the higher will be the rainbow.
8. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to observe the phenomenon of the rainbow.
9. Greeks believed that Rainbows connected heaven and Earth!
10. Rainbows are difficult to form in winters and form more easily in summers, as during winter season water droplets freeze high up in the atmosphere.
11. Rainbows can be formed by mist, fog, spray and even dew.
12. Rainbows formed by fog, called fogbows, are much larger than those formed by raindrops.
13. Double rainbows also occur in the sky. They happen when light is refracted more than once by the water droplets.
Quick Tip: Pair these cool facts with fun Trivia Questions to test your smarts!
14. Double Rainbows have their colours reversed. The outer rainbow is less bright and has red on the inside rather than the outside of the arch.
15. Sometimes light can be refracted multiple times within a water droplet, giving rise to tertiary and quaternary rainbows.
16. Rainbow cannot be touched or felt as it is an optical phenomenon.
17. Hawaii witnesses most rainbows than any other place on Earth.
Related: Explore astounding Geography Fun Facts for Kids for more crazy facts!
18. The world’s longest-lasting rainbow was seen over Sheffield, England on March 14, 1994.
19. You cannot see the end of the rainbow!
20. Rainbows are regarded as Universal symbols of Peace and Harmony.
21. Red Rainbow also known as a Monochrome Rainbow is an extremely rare variation of rainbow that occurs at sunset or sunrise.
22. Saturn’s moon, Titan, with its moist atmosphere has the perfect condition to form a rainbow.
23. Rainbows are considered to be lucky and symbolise hope.
24. It is believed that rainbows have relaxing and healing qualities.
How is a Rainbow Formed?
The science of rainbow is equally interesting as rainbow facts.
Rainbow is an optical phenomenon, much like Lunar Halo. For rainbow to be seen, three conditions must be met:
1. It should be raining
2. Sun should be visible
3. The observer/viewer must be in between the sun and rain
Rainbow is formed when sunlight is refracted that is bent while passing through the water droplets. The raindrops bend the light acting like tiny prisms, splitting white light of the sun into its individual, different colours.
White light is made of a combination of colours, the ones we refer to as VIBGYOR – the colours of rainbow. As sunlight passes through the water drops, it is bent at different angles, giving rise to the spectacular phenomenon of the rainbow.