Question

What do you understand by the term ‘Scattering of Light’? Which colour of white light is scattered least and why?

Answer 1

Hint: From the observations, we know that the light with the longest wavelength tends to scatter the least and the light with the shortest wavelength undergoes scattering the most.

Complete step-by-step answer:

To answer the question for the least scattered light, first, we need to understand the term scattering.
The process of the absorption and the re-emission of light energy is known as the scattering. We can also define the scattering as the propagation of the light energy. The scattering of the light always depends upon the wavelength or the frequency of the light that is being scattered. The deflection of the light takes place due to some irregularities in the propagation medium of the particles between the interface of two mediums.
By understanding the concept of scattering, it is easy to answer the question. The dispersion of the white light takes place when the light hits the surface. We know that the rainbow is made up of seven colours and it is also known as VIBGYOR. Each letter of the word VIBGYOR represents each colour. The order of the colours is Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. The red color has the longest wavelength and it undergoes the least scattering.

Hence, we can understand that the colour red of the white light is scattered least because it has the highest wavelength.

Additional information:

We can understand the reflection of the light due to the sun’s emission causes the scattering of the sunlight. Let us consider a light that passes through the medium of air or water. The absorption of the light takes place by the particles present in the medium of a particular direction. As discussed before the intensity of the scattered light depends upon the wavelength of the light and the size of the particles.
The light with the shorter wavelength with higher frequency scatters more. We can observe the Total Internal Reflection and the bending of the multi-coloured light in the afternoon.
The explanation for the blue colour appearance of the sky is given based on the scattering of the light. The blue colour usually has a lower wavelength. Along with the wavelength of the light, the scattering efficiency decreases absorption the level of the small molecules. The radiation of the sunlight takes place and the light falls on the earth’s envelope and therefore the scattering of the light takes place in the atmosphere. This is the main reason for the blue colour appearance of the sky.

Note:The colour violet of the white light is scattered the most as it has the highest frequency with the lowest wavelength. The order of the scattering phenomenon decreases from violet to red in the order of VIBGYOR.