Rayleighszórás

Rayleigh scattering is a phenomenon in which light is scattered by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light. This type of scattering is named after Lord Rayleigh, who first described it in 1871. The amount of scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength, meaning that shorter wavelengths are scattered more than longer wavelengths. This is why the sky appears blue during the day. The Earth's atmosphere scatters sunlight, and because blue light has a shorter wavelength, it is scattered more than other colors, which is why we perceive the sky as blue. Rayleigh scattering is also responsible for the reddening of the sun at sunrise and sunset, as the light must pass through more of the Earth's atmosphere at these times, allowing more of the red and orange light to reach our eyes. This scattering is also responsible for the blue color of the ocean, as the water molecules scatter blue light more than other colors. Rayleigh scattering is a fundamental concept in optics and atmospheric science, and has numerous applications in fields such as astronomy, meteorology, and remote sensing.