A rainbow is formed from a continuous spectrum of wavelengths, so why do we perceive it as seven separate bands of color?
Reason: Rainbows Appear as Seven Separate Colors
The rainbow appears to have seven colors because of the way sunlight interacts with water droplets in the atmosphere. This interaction, called dispersion, causes the sunlight to split into its component colors due to varying wavelengths. The resulting spectrum includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet – creating the familiar seven-color sequence of a rainbow. However, the colors are a continuous spectrum, and the division into seven distinct hues is a human perception rather than a fundamental limitation of the phenomenon.
– Written By Hina