What is what does it mean when you see a rainbow?

A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. Rainbows typically appear as multicolored arcs.

Here's a breakdown:

• Reflection: Sunlight enters a raindrop and bounces off the back inner surface.

• Refraction: Light bends as it enters and exits the raindrop because light travels at different speeds in air and water.

• Dispersion: Different colors of light bend at slightly different angles. This separates white sunlight into its constituent colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), which we see as the rainbow.

Rainbows are most commonly observed when the sun is behind the observer and rain is falling in front. The rainbow's arc appears opposite to the sun. A full rainbow is actually a circle, but from the ground, we usually only see the arc because the horizon obstructs the rest. Sometimes a double rainbow can be observed, with a fainter secondary arc outside the primary arc, with reversed colors.