Curious Kids: why doesn't the rainbow have black, brown and grey in it?

By James Rawlings, Hourly Paid Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University

Why doesn’t the rainbow have colours like black, brown and grey in it? – Ivy, aged four, Kent, UK

Many of us have seen rainbows in the sky once the sun starts shining again after a spell of rain. For us to see a rainbow, the conditions need to be just right.

We need some water droplets in the air – like rain or even fog – and we need the Sun to be behind us and quite low to the ground. This is because a rainbow is created by light passing through water droplets.…

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