years ago it seemed as if the rainbow was in the garden.
The then ten-year-old son tried to stand on his first legs, but that didn’t work because they went further and further “away”…
Answer
This is because the rainbow is a virtual image.
What your son has done is much like someone looking behind a mirror to see if anyone is behind it!
The rainbow is formed by the reflection of sunlight from many small raindrops. Every raindrop acts like a mirror. Because that reflection is slightly dependent on the color (frequency) of the light, you also see a separate image for each color.
So each observer sees his own rainbow and it changes as the observer moves, just like the image in a mirror. But you will never be able to shake hands with your reflection.
Answered by
Professor Walter Lauriks
Physics Acoustics
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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