Page 148 - Volt Elevate The World Around Us Book 4

Changing Sky Colour During the Day

The sky does not look the same colour all day. In the morning, during sunrise, the sky
often looks orange, pink or red. As the sun rises higher, the sky becomes blue. At noon,
the blue is the brightest because the sun is directly above us. In the evening, during

sunset, the sky again turns orange, red or golden before becoming dark.

sunrise midday sunset

This change of colours happens because of the sun’s light. Sunlight is made up of many

colours and when it passes through the air, it scatters. During the day, blue light scatters
the most which is why the sky looks blue. At sunrise and sunset, the sun is near the
horizon, so its light travels through more air and dust. This scatters away the blue light

and lets us see more red, orange and pink colours.

The Role of the Atmosphere

The Earth is surrounded by a layer of air called exosphere
exobase
the atmosphere. Even though we cannot see
thermosphere
the air around us, it plays a very important karman line
role in how we see the sky during the day. mesosphere
The atmosphere is made up of gases like stratosphere

oxygen and nitrogen. These gases scatter
ozone layer
sunlight in different directions. Because of troposphere

this scattering, the sky looks blue to our eyes.
If there were no atmosphere, the sky would
look completely dark even in the daytime,

just like it looks in space. layers of Earth’s atmosphere

The atmosphere also acts like a protective blanket around the Earth. The sun gives us
light and heat, but it also sends harmful rays called ultraviolet rays. If these rays reached
us directly, they could harm plants, animals and human beings. But, the atmosphere

blocks most of these harmful rays and allows only the useful sunlight to reach us.

Horizon: The furthest that we can see where the sky seems to meet the land or the sea
Ultraviolet ray: A form of radiation originating from the Sun

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