St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Science (#2)

There are many ways to create fun St. Patrick’s Day rainbows on your own. This post describes one way and today I’m sharing another!

Another simple science experiment way to do this is to use a flashlight, a round container and a square container (like a plastic storage container).

How to:

Add some water to each container, then take everything into a dark room.

Shine your flashlight through the round container of water, towards the ceiling or a wall.(Tip: use a regular flashlight, not an LED one!)

What do you see?

Now shine it through the square container.

Is the rainbow different?

Let’s talk Science:

The water acts as a prism, making the light separate into wavelengths, or individual colors! The shape of the prism, or container, determines the shape of the rainbow! That is why we see rainbows when it’s raining and sunny!

For a better explanation, an explanation of double rainbows and more, check out WeatherWhizKids.com! (Just a neat site we came across!)