Somewhere Within the Rainbow (UMAP)

This module uses Fermat's least-time principle for the path of light to derive the laws of reflection and refraction, and then analyzes the passage of light through a raindrop to explain quantitatively the phenonmenon of the rainbow. An appendix is included, which treats diffraction theory.

Table of Contents:

THE PROBLEM: EXPLAINING THE RAINBOW

SOME EARLY HISTORY

REFLECTION

REFRACTION

THE RAINBOW ANGLE

COLORS

THE SECONDARY BOW

FURTHER DIRECTIONS

APPENDIX
The Wave Nature of Light
The Diffraction Theory of the Rainbow

SOLUTIONS TO THE EXERCISES

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR