A rainbow is a spectrum formed when sunlight is dispersed by water droplets in the atmosphere. Sunlight incident on a water droplet is refracted. Because of dispersion, each color is refracted at a slightly different angle. At the back surface of the droplet, the light undergoes total internal reflection. On the way out of the droplet, the light is once more refracted and dispersed. Although each droplet produces a complete spectrum, an observer will only see a certain wavelength of light from each droplet.
Presentation on Rainbows
