you know it is funny but usually most things are like this. We rarely think why 2+2=4, but it was answered to me only after spending 3 years on learning calculus. It's simple yet takes a lot of knowledge to grasp the concepts that are just a second nature to us
I’m an optometrist and this is probably the best animation/display on optics I’ve ever seen. I wish they taught in schools like this. Simply incredible work 👏
@@boogeiymanWhy? Produce video, translate them and deliver to billions. Than an experiment for kids to showcase the simplest part - is literally piece of glass during a sunny day I'm sure Derek won't mind his videos shown in classrooms, anywhere
It is only recently that such capabilities exist, as employed by Derek & Grant (of 3Blue1Brown, that Derek referred to) so wonderfully. And for visual learners it is really ecstatic to see Physics unfold in front of our eyes. What a great time to be alive!!!
Your explanation was so good that at 18:45 when you said 'why is it brighter under a rainbow than above?', I already knew the answer, despite not even being aware of such a phenomenon 20 minutes ago. That's the hallmark of a great explanation.
I'm just happy because 3B1B got the credit. They have narrower audience, but they tackle the problem of the next level of complexity and end up explaining it just as simply.
That's concerning. If Mentour Pilot runs out of material, he'll have to start shooting down planes, and that's just not the same. "We parked our anti-air battery right in the flight path of the plane. Remember this, as it will be important later."
This is so great! Allow me as an optics guy... Derek, around 10:32 you are referring obliquely to the Lorentz model to explain the Kramers-Kronig relation (glass absorbs UV, therefore all wavelengths below see different index of refraction), and use 3Blue1Brown's model. You attribute the phase kick to _amplitude_ of the driven wave. I'm not sure that does the reality justice... The driven atom radiates at the frequency its being driven (great) but it radiates at a different phase to the drive -- and that relative phase changes continuously with drive frequency, with colour. So the added wave from the _driven_ atoms is actually at different _phase-shifts_ , for different drive frequencies, and this is important when you try to get the overall phase shift and net phase speed: which is the index of refraction. It's important too, because it's the reason the light gets attenuated/absorbed when the driving light is right on resonance: the driven atom contributes an emitted field exactly 180 degrees out of phase with the driving light, and in the forward direction those progressive additions to the net field progressively kill the amplitude (Beer's law). It's the 'constructive' reason the the light field dies off, in absorption. How to see? Hold a meter stick hanging like a pendulum and move your hand left and right: very slowly, the bottom of the stick moves in phase with your hand; very quickly and the bottom of the stick moves at 180 degree phase displacement. On resonance, it's at 90-degree phase-displacement, and this means the _velocity_ (derivative) is _in phase_ , and this is what gives largest power (F x v) transfer on resonance. Surely there's a way to do a bit better than just laying the whole thing off on amplitude of response -- this phase shift of the field, on and off resonance, is at the heart of the actual relationship. And in physics, _meaning_ comes from _relationship_ ...
Actually I think it's a combination of the two. The amplitude and the phase shift of the driven wave both increase with larger frequency, but even if only one of them (i.e. only the amplitude) increased, the overall phase shift would still increase. I.e. say the input wave is a*cos(x) and the driven wave is b*cos(x-t), then the phase shift of the sum of those two waves is atan(b*sin(t)/(a+b*cos(t))), which even for fixed (nonzero, as it is in the video) t is an increasing function of b. So it would be more accurate to say the overall phase shift increases because both the amplitude and phase shift of the driven wave increase, but I feel like adding a line like "the overall phase shift also increases because the driven phase shift increases" would just distract from the main point here
@DocRobCan please tell me you have access to those insane laser labs and can get mark in there to show us!!! If not..... GET THIS MAN A LABORATORY AND EQUIPMENT NOW!
@@marsovac The entire point of the video is to point out that other explanations are oversimplifications. Accordingly, it's not afforded any oversimplifications, especially when they're just wrong for no apparent reason.
I’d never been satisfied with the simple “sunlight is scattered by water droplets” explanation as it felt like it left too many questions; this video has answered every one of those questions, succinctly and comprehensively. Incredibly well done!
4:18 He said all other videos about the rainbow are oversimplifications, so to be true to his word, he asked 3B1B for permission to use the most detailed explanation for electromagnetic waves and refraction that I know of as his source. Absolute legends, both of you.👍
@@josenobi3022 it's more like derek is using 3b1b's material to aid himself a proper collaboration would be that they both work on the same material at the same time
If I'm being honest, I still don't understand why shortening the wavelength of light would slow it down, he just mentioned that without giving any actual explanation. Why would light become slower when it's wavelength is shortened inside a medium ?
I work in optics and have two degrees in the field. I’ve heard explanations of the rainbow multiple times, whether in class or at conferences, and can say that this one is certainly one of the best: both because it deals with the maths both (relatively) comprehensively and intuitively, and (more importantly) it really speaks to the curious, awe stricken child in all of us very effectively. He even snuck in a (very) simplified explanation of light-matter interaction and refractive index just to make sense of the differing emergent angles for different wavelengths. Bravo!
@@asunhug Walter lewin. There, you have now been given "the rabbit hole" let me know when you hit the , i don't know any of this and have to go back to where your schooling stoped
I used to teach radio wave propagation and antenna theory. Refraction has always been the difficult one to nail down, until that 3blue1brown video referenced here.
I am an optical engineer and at the end of one of our optics courses the prof gave us a 90 minute lecture on the topic of rainbows. It was incredible and convinced me to do something with light in my professional life. Your visual explanations gave birth to that what the prof taught us 15ish years ago. Thank you!
"Your visual explanations gave birth to that what the prof taught us 15ish years ago." A video from yesterday gave birth to something that happened 15 years ago ?
Something I've been wondering about is can't the frequency of loggt also change ofnthe wavelengths changes..Inget that it's the same number of wave packets coming through since its a continuous light beam butnthe complex interactions innthe material could in principle change the frequency also..as an optical engineer can you confirm this? Has it been studied?
almost brought tears to my eyes when you concluded with “and that, my son…” i think it’s beautiful that what fuelled you to make this video for the whole world to see is your quest to thoroughly answer question from your own child. thank you
My son asked me the same question when he was 5, as an engineer I could answer him but waited until he got a lot older to give him a more detailed explanation. When he said, "and that, my son" I teared up because it brought back that cherished memory. I love his channel.
Wow, Athis video is an amazing piece of art. I’m a mechatronic engineer focusing on machine vision, and your animation is absolutely out of this world-so accurate. You’ve answered all the questions I always get asked and managed to simplify the overcomplicated without oversimplifying. You know what I mean! 😂 The only question you didn’t answer is about the rainbow colors we see on the street on a rainy day. I know it’s thin-film interference, but it seems fun to learn more about it! So if you read my comment, search about thin-film interference.
This almost made me cry. Having a parent that loves learning as much as they love teaching has to be one of the greatest gifts on earth. Gaining the knack for inquiry makes living so beautiful.
Superb video, Derek! I also researched this topic about a month ago: Your explanations, experiments and simulations are just excellent, especially for Glories and supernumeraries. If you ever revisit this topic, here are some comments: * the Sun is not a point source, so the angular size of ~half a degree is spreading/averaging everything out over such an angle, making 1st and 2nd order supernumeraries the most likely to be visible, not much else; * fogbows and halos were left out; *2nd order color inversion didn't get its attention, and 3rd and 4th order rainbows i tried to simulate, but always failed, they have immense forward scattering levels behind and probably never visible; * refractive index depends on temperature - the angle is slightly different for rain of different temperature; * red color is purest in the rainbow, everything else is more like a mix and the blue and violet part is especially unpure; * there is another place in the solar system where rainbows might appear - methane rain on Titan - totally different angles and 2nd order nonexistent probably; *color sensitivity of the eye could also be mentioned plus NIR and UV parts; *reflection rainbow from mirror-flat body of water could also be interesting to show. All in all - by far the best video of rainbow physics that i ever saw!!!
I was also expecting Halo's mentioned. And also now that I mentioned that, maybe also light pillars. So maybe not revisit but own continuation video about these when the water droplets are frozen ice crystals, pretty please 😂
That is a very sweet thing for you to say, but, his theory is wrong, and here's why its wrong. 1st: the very 1st photo! (no rain) #2. we have weather cams everywhere now, and literally watch storms roll thru a "rainbow" with sun traveling, and "rainbow" remaining fixed in place. #3. sideways "rainbows" .... we see them all the time, water falls... stand with a garden hose, side ways "rainbows" all around you! #4. the "rainbows" of our eyes! that we all see in a steamed glass mirror.
So therefor! rain/water.... relative to the "rainbow" only in that it enables us to see what is always there. magnetism the "magnetic lines" of the earth and.... ourselves. Its simple as that.
@@TwiddleBee wouldnt a sideways rainbow just be the side of a rainbow since they are a full circle as shown in this video? like we only see the regular arch because earth is in the way. you dont need rain to see a rainbow, just a spherical medium to reflect light like any form of droplet in the air like mist im not sure what you mean with the storm honestly, the rainbow is dependent on the angle of the sun and you in reference to the thing it is reflecting off of, a storm wouldnt really get in the way since the sun can just reflect off of the droplets in the storm
Using advanced CGI to illustrate light reflection is awesome, using a red tether to illustrate constructive/destructive interference was out of this world!
I agree, but he did several videos with a BetterHelp sponsorship which is an online therapy company that sells their customers' data and has bad therapists
I read an article in a "technical" magazine a couple of days ago, and they explained rainbows as "light reflecting at 42 degrees" with a sketch, and left it at that. I remember thinking that that the explanation was quite incomplete, especially with respect to the radius of the bow. It is remarkable that a free youtube channel gives such a complete and satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, compared to a publication which you are expected to pay a significant amount of money. Thank you for answering the questions I had for decades!
Print media is slowly becoming extinct. While digital media has its benefits, one downside is the ability for "Favored" content to be amplified and "Disfavored" content to be buried.
You can also find on RUclips a fascinating *MIT* lesson by *Walter Lewin* that explains rainbows very clearly. This is knowledge that you can find in textbooks already. Scientific articles do not need to explain it again. They are typically written to give some additional information. Unless you are talking about scientific divulgation (a.k.a. popular science), which nobody does better than Veritasium and a few others. No doubt about that.
As a physicist and a 3b1b enjoyer i wasn’t sure I’d learn something new at first but i am so glad i watched this. I didn’t think there could be a better visualisation than what 3b1b provided but this really adds to it with the amount of depth this topic deserves. Absolutely amazing work!
FANTASTIC VIDEO!! I am a retired Physics teacher and used to teach Wave Phenomenon using strings, water waves and lights waves. I used to have to give an explanation of how rainbows form and I was never quite satisfied with my inadequet explanation. This video explains so much and is so well done that it could and should be used in high school science classes. Another excellent video among your many other excellent videos!
Thank you for your service as a teacher. Physics was my most fun and imaginative course in HS. My teachers of physics I and II will remain my favorite and I'm sure you gave that experience to thousands of inquisitive minds.
Crystal balls used for science and not seances !! Cool. Too bad in the next few years, teachers will have to explain the controversy about rainbows really being a covenant with gawd, promising not to drown the planet with the descendants of a boat waiting millennia until geezuz could die and make gawd forgive everyone. We need the babble with science doncha know!!! It's that or Veritasium is cut off for being a heretic.
Also a retired physics teacher. I left at the beginning of the smartphone and high speed internet era. The tools that are available now are amazing, and AI should cause another leap, love seeing it develop.
Thanks for using 3blue1brown animations for this... his videos on this subject are by far the best and most satisfying explanation on this subject out there ❤
The 3blue1brown animations are extremely good! Also I know its off topic Jesus loves you so he died for you because he wants to know you❤️Repent, God bless
@@Lecommandant_camroun Seriously ? Why not say geologists, astrophysicists and evolutionary biologists all lie about the age of the earth while at it ??? BeLIEvers know rainbows are really a covenant from Yahw-monster, who killed everyone except drunken Noah. Trollers gonna troll, which is a sin. Can't wait till you get Dear Leader president to get Veritasium put in jail for heresy !!!
This is THE best educational video on optics I have ever seen, It should be mandatory in schools physics(optics) lessons worldwide and be used as a standard for education experts on "how to do a proper video"
As a spectroscopist, I see optics as the art of revealing the invisible. Each photon of light carries secrets about the material it interacts with-its composition, structure, and even its dynamics. By dissecting light into its spectral components, we can essentially decode a molecular fingerprint. The beauty of spectroscopy is its precision: light doesn’t lie. A subtle dip in an absorption spectrum, a shift in fluorescence, or a sharp peak in Raman scattering tells a story about the material’s structure, environment, or energy states. It’s like speaking a universal language of photons and vibrations, one where every wavelength and intensity is a clue. Optics isn’t just about bending light-it’s about bending our understanding of the universe, one spectrum at a time.
But, its wrong... and here's why. 1st: the very 1st photo! (no rain) #2. we have weather cams everywhere now, and literally watch storms roll thru a "rainbow" with sun traveling, and "rainbow" remaining fixed in place. #3. sideways "rainbows" .... we see them all the time, water falls... stand with a garden hose, side ways "rainbows" all around you! #4. the "rainbows" of our eyes! that we all see in a steamed glass mirror.
So therefor! rain/water.... relative to the "rainbow" only in that it enables us to see what is always there. magnetism the "magnetic lines" of the earth and.... ourselves. Its simple as that.
@@TwiddleBee Good 'overall' critical ideas... (Science get better even if criticized). You seem like the kind of guy that doesn't understand Science TBH and spewing half-baked nonsense (all that is easy to replicate in a room with a light source; it is easy science at that point). If you could prove a static side rainbow exist, i think you are in for the nobel prize (maybe)... But it is so "easy to prove" that you are underestimating 200 years of science at least. (sometimes they are a little blind/partial, but not to that extent lol) => So get a video where you walk around a rainbow and it is fixed in place (like a fixed 3D object) and you have a real argument here. Beat science with science, or you are the clown of the circus. For the 1°) no rain is necessary; just an invisible mist of tiny droplets in the far distance. 2°) I would like to see that video; a time-lapse of a rainbow when the sun is moving could be interesting to analyze. (a simple explanation here is FX.. someone just stamp a rainbow on the video and it is fake... that does exist on internet.) In theory, the rainbow should move with the angle of the sun with a fixed camera.... unless the rainbow is a reflect of the layer of glass on the camera; it happens sometimes. (but it is no "sun-rainbow") 3°) never seen a side rainbow... only partial rainbows and linear diffraction on walls... and when the droplets are not rounds (with a hose the droplets can't be spherical... too random and chaotic)... the caustics would be different; so new phenomenons could occur like "anomalous deformed rainbows" and whatnot... 4°) don't know what your are talking about. is it about drugs early in the morning? ;-) (if you are hallucinating, you could see talking rainbows too... just saying.) Here the sun can't be present, and not at a 40°angle etc... it is diffraction from tiny film of water over glass, but that doesn't make any sort of rainbow. (which is a volumetric phenomenon). If it is your trolling impression of a "flat-rainbow" conservationist", it is cleverly done... but i'm not sure about people nowadays... their brain power is on the decline, and very fast...
BEST VIDEO EVER! Did all the computations 25years ago by hand... brings back all those wonderful memories. 42 is my favorite number ever since. Thank you!
@@EricStephaniI think it was due to a Richard Feynman reference comparing the ratio between magnitude of the electromagnetic force and gravity, which is the same a as the ratio of the diameter of the Universe and a proton. Which is 1 X 10^42. Or so Feynman claimed.
Your videos always engage me and often impress me - but this is the first time I have been deeply moved. As a father, and one entranced by the mysterious, rational, confusing, enlightening voices of science, I resonate so deeply with your desire to reveal this beauty to your son, augmenting his innocent, raw appreciation without diminishing it. Bravo!
When I was in high school, my mother, my sister and I went to Fairbanks, Alaska, and we flew up to Point Barrow. I saw a full circle double rainbow from the plane, with the shadow of the plane in the middle. Thank you for this beautiful video, bringing back a great memory from over fifty years ago!
I may be wrong, but I don’t think it was a glory. In the video, the shadow in the center of the glory impinged on the colorful rings. This was much bigger, probably about 40 degrees and nowhere near the plane’s shadow.
@bryancurry1898 I think that would purely be a matter of distance/elevation from the moisture creating the rainbow and that's the surface of the shadow. I've been on a plane that's descended through its own glory on the clouds below, and the shadow at the center of the glory grew as we descended until it swallowed up the glory shortly before we entered the cloud.
@@bryancurry1898 I used to fly Cessnas and the like, and can confirm that you can indeed see a "proper" rainbow that is a full circle. All you need is enough rain below you to complete the circle. I loved bright, showery days, and would go looking for rainbow circles.
"A rainbow is a circle, and the higher you go, the more of it you can see." I read that years ago, and now I finally understand why: it's because it's produced in circular water droplets.
Seeing the glass "raindrop" reflect and showcase how the end points of each color scatter on the reflection make the rainbow was actually spectacular, hah! Never gave it much thought but it's neat to see the science of it, and then actually see it in action! Amazing.
A month ago, as a teacher to be, I had to prepare a "quick" explenation on rainbows for a seminar. Thus I know, how DEEEEEEEP the rabbit hole goes. Very nice video :)
This may be my favorite video you've made. Not only was it a fascinating topic explained superbly with interesting and unique demos, but the fact you made it all for your son shows it was a labor of love. I hope he looks back on this, and everything else you've done for him, very fondly
The first screensaver pic when I openend my Laptop to watch your video: a super sun (with halo and 2 copies of the sun left and right). So many rainbow-like phenomena out there 😎🌈🙏
24:33 “But it all started with the mystery of rings of color in the fog” it was at that point that I felt so emotional… thank you for what you do and share, our world is amazing and learning about it is an awesome thing
Oh nice! 21:48, I saw one of those while on a plane and couldn't really figure out why I could see this circular rainbow circling around the plane's shadow on the clouds. That is a cool sight
same here, I googled it and found out it was gloria. I saw similar phenomena when flying my FPV drone. I could see a kind of rainbow around my drone's shadow from drone's perspective.
As a teacher of an Art course in "Light & Optics" . . . this is simply phenomenal pedagogy. Brilliantly and clearly explained, excellent use of demos and animations. Spectacular.
This is one of the best explanations I have seen on anything ever. All of my previous intuitions about rainbows got fully revoked and replaced with this video. Amazing work!
One of the best veritasium videos in the past few years. Not just the subject, but the passion you show here towards teaching your son the secrets behind the beuties of the world. It felt personal and touching.
I have a BSc in space science, MSc in Astrophysics, and PhD in Heliophysics, and this is the first time I really understand how rainbows work. Well done, Derek! Great job!
This is by far my top 3 Veritasium videos. You have made something absolutely beautiful, Derek. We need these videos on a high school curriculum. They're necessary. Please don't ever stop. Phenomenal explanation, mesmerizing visuals and when you were playing with the large glass ball and your window, I experienced that same crazy excitement when I was experimenting with Lasers. It's magical.
This video gave me goosebumps for almost all its duration... Specially when, from color to color, degree to degree, it uncovers exactly when/why/how the rainbows appear, all at the same time. This video is just perfect... There's no more to say besides: THANK YOU!
I've seen so many of your videos. But on this one, I hope you feel most gratified for offering this to your son. What a great father you have chosen to be. For I feel like a kid again, who at once thought I knew something, only to marvel, realizing how much more there is to learn and discover. And you did it in a way a kid could understand. Job well done. Hope you continue making videos for your son, and the kid in us all.
I'm fortunate enough to have seen rainbows, double rainbows, a glory/brocken spectre (once), a sun dog (once), and finally polar stratospheric clouds (my favourite). Don't get stuck behind your screen, go out & explore as often as possible 🙂 Great video!
all rainbows are double rainbows, or to be more exact, all rainbows are infinite order rainbows where every order is just fainter and fainter to infinity
@@tl2402 That is not true. A natural rainbow has a hard limit and that limit is where the droplets come from and where they end up. There is a finite amount of bows that can be generated in such a segment. You can try and simulate it on a computer and you'll find that there is a definitive limit. It's a cool project if you can tackle it and share it :]
I'm a very active amateur astronomer who's hobby has stimulated an insatiable hunger for optical knowledge. I've become quite obsessed with optical designs and star testing.... this video is one of the greatest works of art I've ever seen on the subject of optics, nevermind the fact it's dealing with how a rainbow is made!! Truly a work of Science & Art. Bravo 👏 👏 👏
25:51 casually dropping the name of Dustin's channel in a plug for Brilliant. Well played! Also, fantastic video, not just for the amazing explanations and demonstrations, but that it was inspired by your boy's question, and that this video is as much an explanation just for him, as it is a learning tool for us. I love that.
We need more vids like this were kids ask (out of curiosity), and you create a vid answering them. Super insightful, a eureka moment when I suddenly connected the dots leading to "how rainbows" were made.
Veritasium, your team has an extraordinary way of explaining and exploring these concepts in a manner that isn't oversimplified (in a way that would leave more questions), but also not too complex to the point where my brain turns off. I love how these videos not only answer my questions, but expand upon them and also shows where it may exist in the world around us! That's probably one of the most important elements in my opinion. Almost every kid (including myself) always wonders "when or where the heck am I ever going to apply this information in my life?" The storytelling through the imagery, music, and the order and methods these ideas are presented is top tier, which is why I think this is the culmination of an incredible team's efforts. Life has been incredibly rough lately, so watching this was something that made me stoked to be existing on Earth right now -- with the ability to understand and experience it all -- and that's a gift that can't be bought. Sending a tremendous thanks and aloha to you and your team, Veritasium.
genuinely impressive how you never miss. Even with topics that I already know all about, you always manage to provide additional insight that I didn't know I needed
In 3D rendering programs, in order to make objects more realistic, we have to use the Index of Refraction (IOR) from the real life materials those objects are made out of. I never knew what IOR actually meant or entailed. This video perfectly explained it. Thanks, and keep doing what you do best!
@@dangerfly But he used it correctly. He has never seen a better video about rainbows until this one. Ergo, literally the best he's seen. Now, is the word "literally" needed there? Well, no. Is it used incorrectly? No!
@@Ulysses182 Their intent was to add emphasis like using all caps or bold and that's a wrong interpretation of how the educated use it to clarify that they are not being metaphorical *when that ambiguity exists*. "Big as a house" is ambiguous for example because it's often used metaphorically. Kids especially don't understand that nuance and so they are incorrectly using it based on INTENT and lack of ambiguity. There are sooo *MANY* ways to exaggerate and few to communicate that we are not.
The 9 rainbow orders are more important than the curvature of rainbow In my opinion. I'm a little dissatisfied you did not go into them at all and how they play directly into what angle your looking at and the orders also depend on what colors come through that you see also. A bit disappointed here especially with the Title.
After a full watch, my original assumption is correct, vertasium you still dont know much about Rainbows lol. I was really hoping to learn something new here. Natural and lab made are another important component as 9 natural rainbow orders and 250+ in lab conditions. Please do more research and make new rainbow video in future.
This was amazing. I had learned that calculus explained rainbows in college but these analog visuals are beautiful. Derek it would be really cool if during your demonstrations, like the light cone off your glass sphere, if you would take a high res photo or two and offer it as a print. A milestone of discovery if you would. It would be cool so see your setup and the demonstration raw in something like that. It would just be something that I would hang on my wall because sometimes things you show genuinely fascinate me.
As an educator and fan of atmospheric optical phenomena I really appreciated this detailed explanation. Now for part II and III (or more)... It would be great to see something similar for Parhelia (sun dogs) and various refractions and reflections associates with ice crystals. (Circumzenithal and Circumhorizontal arcs, Upper and lower tangent arcs, Parry arcs and more!) It would be cool to see demos with individual glass (or ice) prisms in the same way you simulated a large raindrop.
Before I even start the video I just want to say my own little fun fact about rainbows. The ones you see outside after a storm, or in a mist of water are yours and yours alone. Each person sees their own rainbow, each one is slightly different, and the only time there is only one is if you are the only one looking at where one should form. You know, because it's about light refracting through the cloud of particles into your eye. I just always thought that was neat. Edit: Yes! You mention it at 17:00 :D
0:10 This reminds me of the first time my daughter asked me how fireworks work at age 6. I did the same thing you did and greatly overexplained it going into detail about chemical reactions and particle physics regarding how light is released 🤣🤣 Got to love being a father right?! 😎🤓
I watched the whole video almost crying all the time. it's so great to learn those things and I am rather thankful for someone to pull out something as great as this video. Thank you, Derek, from Brazil.
I didn't know i needed a video on this topic, i thouht i knew it was "obviously due to droplets separating colors, who would not know that, right ?". Thank you, it's nice to be humbled sometimes haha. Your explainations were so clear, you really did a great job ! I think i'll try to replicate your experiment in the room with direct sunlight coming into the glass sphere, it was beautiful and i want to see it in reality !
i am not sure if light reacts to glass sphere the same as water sphere. both are clear but might affect light slightly differently. i am not sure though.
This 27 minute video completely blew my mind. It was absolutely freaking awesome. What an out of the world Dad way of answering to your son's curiosity..... I was totally awe-struck
What I loved about this video and some similar ones also from Veritasium is that he mentioned the more earlier discoverers of the now called "Snell's Law", love how he gives proper respect to relevant mathematicians/ physicists.
I once saw something in the sky that looked like a rainbow at first. Then I noticed, that it was curved in the wrong direction (curved upwards while the sun was below it), which made me very confused about how that could be. It turns out that it is called "circumzenithal arc" and forms due to small ice crystals high in the sky with their orientation aligned so that they have vertical surfaces where the light refracts. According to "the internet" this happens about as often as rainbows, but is rarely noticed because you have to look up at a large angle to see them (In my case someone lying on the ground noticed it and pointed it out).
Wow, I'm really flabbergasted. This is without doubt the best video I've ever seen on light. Every time I thought that the phenomenon had been fully explained, another fascinating aspect was introduced, illuminating a new detail of the physics. It takes a special talent to explain with this level of clarity, thanks for making this.
and this is a huge compliment from someone being able to explain complicated topics himself with great effort and enthusiasm! I really enjoy your videos!
13:41 Seeing the focussed light at the left side of the sphere I wanted to ask if you've accidentally burned something (but the focus range is very short, so luckily no chance to burn the floor) or purposefully burned your hand with it - I mean, we all have this curiosity, who wouldn't hold their hand into the focus point of the glas sphere to test how strong it is. But you went on and mentioned it and showed how you burned you hand - for science. Well done! 🤗 Needless to mention the whole video is amazing, thanks for making us smarter every other day! ☺
Just beautiful, happy to be able to help
Thank you for the visual data. Absolutely delightful.
The GOAT
I loved both ivdeos, people should def watch you before though
THE GOAT
The goat vs real engineering
- Dad... why are rainbows curved?
- Give me a couple of weeks to answer it
you know it is funny but usually most things are like this. We rarely think why 2+2=4, but it was answered to me only after spending 3 years on learning calculus. It's simple yet takes a lot of knowledge to grasp the concepts that are just a second nature to us
@@RabbitKiwi DIENG ISLIVING
for you and a few other hundred thousand people :))
kid: im not interested anymore
@tarik5277 😅
So another example of 42 being the fundamental answer to everything. Awesome video! As always
humorous reference to Hitchhikers Guide to The Universe?
MARRY ME ! ( If you're old enough to know I'm joking.)
@@daisymoses6812waht's that
but just for Red
If only it was 37
“Learning should be about mastering a subject, not memorizing a list of facts”
I loved this quote!
I’m an optometrist and this is probably the best animation/display on optics I’ve ever seen. I wish they taught in schools like this. Simply incredible work 👏
Imagine each class taking this long to prepare and costing as much
@@boogeiymanWhy? Produce video, translate them and deliver to billions. Than an experiment for kids to showcase the simplest part - is literally piece of glass during a sunny day
I'm sure Derek won't mind his videos shown in classrooms, anywhere
This is why RUclips is improving the quality of teaching.
You are welcome sir
It is only recently that such capabilities exist, as employed by Derek & Grant (of 3Blue1Brown, that Derek referred to) so wonderfully. And for visual learners it is really ecstatic to see Physics unfold in front of our eyes. What a great time to be alive!!!
Your explanation was so good that at 18:45 when you said 'why is it brighter under a rainbow than above?', I already knew the answer, despite not even being aware of such a phenomenon 20 minutes ago. That's the hallmark of a great explanation.
I said out loud to myself, "BECAUSE THE CAUSTICS DUH!"
I...I was very proud of myself
Same here! This was such a good video
12:41 was when it clicked for me, I saw the light under the rainbow, and I was like "Oooh that's why it's brighter under a rainbow!"
@@sfurules🤭
Well said. It’s a great example of teaching understanding rather than just knowledge.
The rate of Veritasium and Mentour Pilot Video drops these past couple of weeks and yet with top quality delivery literally is out of this world.
No, it's literally in this world.
I'm just happy because 3B1B got the credit. They have narrower audience, but they tackle the problem of the next level of complexity and end up explaining it just as simply.
Ah, a fellow human of great culture! I too am subscribed to both 🤓
That's concerning. If Mentour Pilot runs out of material, he'll have to start shooting down planes, and that's just not the same.
"We parked our anti-air battery right in the flight path of the plane. Remember this, as it will be important later."
oh hey! a fellow veritasium and mentour pilot enjoyer! yeah their videos are extremely incredible and i´ve been a fan of both for years now
This is so great! Allow me as an optics guy... Derek, around 10:32 you are referring obliquely to the Lorentz model to explain the Kramers-Kronig relation (glass absorbs UV, therefore all wavelengths below see different index of refraction), and use 3Blue1Brown's model. You attribute the phase kick to _amplitude_ of the driven wave. I'm not sure that does the reality justice... The driven atom radiates at the frequency its being driven (great) but it radiates at a different phase to the drive -- and that relative phase changes continuously with drive frequency, with colour. So the added wave from the _driven_ atoms is actually at different _phase-shifts_ , for different drive frequencies, and this is important when you try to get the overall phase shift and net phase speed: which is the index of refraction. It's important too, because it's the reason the light gets attenuated/absorbed when the driving light is right on resonance: the driven atom contributes an emitted field exactly 180 degrees out of phase with the driving light, and in the forward direction those progressive additions to the net field progressively kill the amplitude (Beer's law). It's the 'constructive' reason the the light field dies off, in absorption. How to see? Hold a meter stick hanging like a pendulum and move your hand left and right: very slowly, the bottom of the stick moves in phase with your hand; very quickly and the bottom of the stick moves at 180 degree phase displacement. On resonance, it's at 90-degree phase-displacement, and this means the _velocity_ (derivative) is _in phase_ , and this is what gives largest power (F x v) transfer on resonance. Surely there's a way to do a bit better than just laying the whole thing off on amplitude of response -- this phase shift of the field, on and off resonance, is at the heart of the actual relationship. And in physics, _meaning_ comes from _relationship_ ...
Actually I think it's a combination of the two. The amplitude and the phase shift of the driven wave both increase with larger frequency, but even if only one of them (i.e. only the amplitude) increased, the overall phase shift would still increase. I.e. say the input wave is a*cos(x) and the driven wave is b*cos(x-t), then the phase shift of the sum of those two waves is atan(b*sin(t)/(a+b*cos(t))), which even for fixed (nonzero, as it is in the video) t is an increasing function of b. So it would be more accurate to say the overall phase shift increases because both the amplitude and phase shift of the driven wave increase, but I feel like adding a line like "the overall phase shift also increases because the driven phase shift increases" would just distract from the main point here
now try to read what you have just written, and see if it would make for a good video :)
It is a video, not a scientific paper.
@DocRobCan please tell me you have access to those insane laser labs and can get mark in there to show us!!! If not..... GET THIS MAN A LABORATORY AND EQUIPMENT NOW!
@@marsovac The entire point of the video is to point out that other explanations are oversimplifications. Accordingly, it's not afforded any oversimplifications, especially when they're just wrong for no apparent reason.
I’d never been satisfied with the simple “sunlight is scattered by water droplets” explanation as it felt like it left too many questions; this video has answered every one of those questions, succinctly and comprehensively. Incredibly well done!
another legend is in the commentss
didn't expect to see you here!
Alr bruh we know ur a linguistics nerd💀🤦🏽♂️
No wonder. This video was made with passion
@@bannedmerchant3849 could you ?
4:18 He said all other videos about the rainbow are oversimplifications, so to be true to his word, he asked 3B1B for permission to use the most detailed explanation for electromagnetic waves and refraction that I know of as his source. Absolute legends, both of you.👍
Both 3B1B and Veritasium are high quality math/physics explainers. I love both of them and a collab between them would be insane
@@gachabloxgirl3958 Wouldn’t you consider this to be a collab ?
@@josenobi3022 it's more like derek is using 3b1b's material to aid himself
a proper collaboration would be that they both work on the same material at the same time
Thats why i love this science community on yt.
If I'm being honest, I still don't understand why shortening the wavelength of light would slow it down, he just mentioned that without giving any actual explanation.
Why would light become slower when it's wavelength is shortened inside a medium ?
I work in optics and have two degrees in the field. I’ve heard explanations of the rainbow multiple times, whether in class or at conferences, and can say that this one is certainly one of the best: both because it deals with the maths both (relatively) comprehensively and intuitively, and (more importantly) it really speaks to the curious, awe stricken child in all of us very effectively. He even snuck in a (very) simplified explanation of light-matter interaction and refractive index just to make sense of the differing emergent angles for different wavelengths. Bravo!
Im 26 and through youtube videos like this I've learned more in the past year than I did the other 25 years of school work etc. too cool!
@@asunhug Walter lewin. There, you have now been given "the rabbit hole" let me know when you hit the , i don't know any of this and have to go back to where your schooling stoped
@ Omg. Just searched and looks like I need to check this out. Thanks! XD ;D
I used to teach radio wave propagation and antenna theory. Refraction has always been the difficult one to nail down, until that 3blue1brown video referenced here.
@@asunhugTo which school and country did you go? just curious which school is this bad.
You know it's serious when Veritasium says the explanation *IS SATISFYING*
I am an optical engineer and at the end of one of our optics courses the prof gave us a 90 minute lecture on the topic of rainbows. It was incredible and convinced me to do something with light in my professional life. Your visual explanations gave birth to that what the prof taught us 15ish years ago. Thank you!
Are there ways to cheat past the diffraction limit?
@@bengsynthmusic actually yes: search for "Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy"
W prof
"Your visual explanations gave birth to that what the prof taught us 15ish years ago."
A video from yesterday gave birth to something that happened 15 years ago ?
Something I've been wondering about is can't the frequency of loggt also change ofnthe wavelengths changes..Inget that it's the same number of wave packets coming through since its a continuous light beam butnthe complex interactions innthe material could in principle change the frequency also..as an optical engineer can you confirm this? Has it been studied?
14:55 *Burns the finger*
"Ouch! This thing is a ffFFffffocal" 😁
Einstein would have already been on it and frying his morning egg.
multiple f- words came to his mind lol
Congratulations! You can hear!
@@chenilleoneil1289 Tech Ingredients did this except with a parabolic reflector.
@@troubledouble106 Congratulations! You're annoying !
almost brought tears to my eyes when you concluded with “and that, my son…” i think it’s beautiful that what fuelled you to make this video for the whole world to see is your quest to thoroughly answer question from your own child. thank you
I came here for this comment.... 25:05, haven't quite finished the video, yet have tears in my eyes due to, "... my son..."
Too dramatic
@@soundscape26 Lol.
My son asked me the same question when he was 5, as an engineer I could answer him but waited until he got a lot older to give him a more detailed explanation. When he said, "and that, my son" I teared up because it brought back that cherished memory. I love his channel.
search redfrost motivation, If by Rudyard Kipling.
See if you can listen to the last segment of the poem without crying haha
Wow,
Athis video is an amazing piece of art. I’m a mechatronic engineer focusing on machine vision, and your animation is absolutely out of this world-so accurate.
You’ve answered all the questions I always get asked and managed to simplify the overcomplicated without oversimplifying. You know what I mean! 😂
The only question you didn’t answer is about the rainbow colors we see on the street on a rainy day. I know it’s thin-film interference, but it seems fun to learn more about it!
So if you read my comment, search about thin-film interference.
This almost made me cry.
Having a parent that loves learning as much as they love teaching has to be one of the greatest gifts on earth. Gaining the knack for inquiry makes living so beautiful.
"im looking at a different rainbow than you"
little veritasium got it
❤❤❤❤❤
@@fpvangel4495 COCK
Caustics Operations Crashcourse Knowledgeability
I appreciate this positive comment 💪
Rainbow warrior's RUclips
Superb video, Derek! I also researched this topic about a month ago: Your explanations, experiments and simulations are just excellent, especially for Glories and supernumeraries. If you ever revisit this topic, here are some comments: * the Sun is not a point source, so the angular size of ~half a degree is spreading/averaging everything out over such an angle, making 1st and 2nd order supernumeraries the most likely to be visible, not much else; * fogbows and halos were left out; *2nd order color inversion didn't get its attention, and 3rd and 4th order rainbows i tried to simulate, but always failed, they have immense forward scattering levels behind and probably never visible; * refractive index depends on temperature - the angle is slightly different for rain of different temperature; * red color is purest in the rainbow, everything else is more like a mix and the blue and violet part is especially unpure; * there is another place in the solar system where rainbows might appear - methane rain on Titan - totally different angles and 2nd order nonexistent probably; *color sensitivity of the eye could also be mentioned plus NIR and UV parts; *reflection rainbow from mirror-flat body of water could also be interesting to show. All in all - by far the best video of rainbow physics that i ever saw!!!
Methane rain = methrain 😉
Thanks for these insights!
Yo this is cool
awesome comment
I was also expecting Halo's mentioned. And also now that I mentioned that, maybe also light pillars. So maybe not revisit but own continuation video about these when the water droplets are frozen ice crystals, pretty please 😂
Son: "Dad, why are rainbows curved?"
Derek: "You'll have to wait until I finish productionizing a 27m video in order to get to know the answer."
the answer*
💠
@@colt4505 Yeah, noticed it a bit late.
Thanks!
hes giving him video ideas too
And he wont understand it. Add additional 10 Years 🤣
Rainbows are literally my most favorite thing ever, and it's so cool to see a Veritasium video on it in depth. Thanks!
That is a very sweet thing for you to say, but, his theory is wrong, and here's why its wrong.
1st: the very 1st photo! (no rain)
#2. we have weather cams everywhere now, and literally watch storms roll thru a "rainbow" with sun traveling, and "rainbow" remaining fixed in place.
#3. sideways "rainbows" .... we see them all the time, water falls... stand with a garden hose, side ways "rainbows" all around you!
#4. the "rainbows" of our eyes! that we all see in a steamed glass mirror.
So therefor!
rain/water.... relative to the "rainbow" only in that it enables us to see what is always there.
magnetism
the "magnetic lines" of the earth and.... ourselves.
Its simple as that.
@@TwiddleBee I'm sorry, but what the heck are you saying?
@@justafoon What I am say is, his theory is wrong.
Not that that's a bad thing, its just incorrect.
@@TwiddleBee What theory? It's just how light refracts. ???
@@TwiddleBee wouldnt a sideways rainbow just be the side of a rainbow since they are a full circle as shown in this video? like we only see the regular arch because earth is in the way.
you dont need rain to see a rainbow, just a spherical medium to reflect light like any form of droplet in the air like mist
im not sure what you mean with the storm honestly, the rainbow is dependent on the angle of the sun and you in reference to the thing it is reflecting off of, a storm wouldnt really get in the way since the sun can just reflect off of the droplets in the storm
Using advanced CGI to illustrate light reflection is awesome, using a red tether to illustrate constructive/destructive interference was out of this world!
Ran out of budget 😂
💙🤍👍🏻
I'm curious as to which part do you think is advanced CGI.
Advanced?
the lasers were cool as heck too
Veritasium has really become one of the best RUclips channels in the world. The consistency and quality of uploads is simply astonishing.
Bot account
@@mikeuk666 Hi, I'm your robot friend. What can I do for you?
I agree, but he did several videos with a BetterHelp sponsorship which is an online therapy company that sells their customers' data and has bad therapists
@@notCAMD also the video with the self-driving cars was a bit of an ad read...
@@simonprecheurllarena stop propagating the stereotype that robots are here to serve humans
I read an article in a "technical" magazine a couple of days ago, and they explained rainbows as "light reflecting at 42 degrees" with a sketch, and left it at that. I remember thinking that that the explanation was quite incomplete, especially with respect to the radius of the bow. It is remarkable that a free youtube channel gives such a complete and satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, compared to a publication which you are expected to pay a significant amount of money. Thank you for answering the questions I had for decades!
Print media is slowly becoming extinct. While digital media has its benefits, one downside is the ability for "Favored" content to be amplified and "Disfavored" content to be buried.
You can also find on RUclips a fascinating *MIT* lesson by *Walter Lewin* that explains rainbows very clearly.
This is knowledge that you can find in textbooks already.
Scientific articles do not need to explain it again. They are typically written to give some additional information.
Unless you are talking about scientific divulgation (a.k.a. popular science), which nobody does better than Veritasium and a few others. No doubt about that.
As a physicist and a 3b1b enjoyer i wasn’t sure I’d learn something new at first but i am so glad i watched this. I didn’t think there could be a better visualisation than what 3b1b provided but this really adds to it with the amount of depth this topic deserves. Absolutely amazing work!
FANTASTIC VIDEO!! I am a retired Physics teacher and used to teach Wave Phenomenon using strings, water waves and lights waves. I used to have to give an explanation of how rainbows form and I was never quite satisfied with my inadequet explanation. This video explains so much and is so well done that it could and should be used in high school science classes. Another excellent video among your many other excellent videos!
Thank you for your service as a teacher. Physics was my most fun and imaginative course in HS. My teachers of physics I and II will remain my favorite and I'm sure you gave that experience to thousands of inquisitive minds.
Crystal balls used for science and not seances !! Cool.
Too bad in the next few years, teachers will have to explain the controversy about rainbows really being a covenant with gawd, promising not to drown the planet with the descendants of a boat waiting millennia until geezuz could die and make gawd forgive everyone. We need the babble with science doncha know!!! It's that or Veritasium is cut off for being a heretic.
Also a retired physics teacher. I left at the beginning of the smartphone and high speed internet era. The tools that are available now are amazing, and AI should cause another leap, love seeing it develop.
Thanks for using 3blue1brown animations for this... his videos on this subject are by far the best and most satisfying explanation on this subject out there ❤
On this subject I agree on this subject 👍
The 3blue1brown animations are extremely good!
Also I know its off topic Jesus loves you so he died for you because he wants to know you❤️Repent, God bless
@@Lecommandant_camroun Seriously ? Why not say geologists, astrophysicists and evolutionary biologists all lie about the age of the earth while at it ??? BeLIEvers know rainbows are really a covenant from Yahw-monster, who killed everyone except drunken Noah.
Trollers gonna troll, which is a sin. Can't wait till you get Dear Leader president to get Veritasium put in jail for heresy !!!
This is THE best educational video on optics I have ever seen, It should be mandatory in schools physics(optics) lessons worldwide and be used as a standard for education experts on "how to do a proper video"
i covered this at University in optics 20 years ago, but it is better explained here that in the books and the "practical exercises" in the lab.
As a spectroscopist, I see optics as the art of revealing the invisible. Each photon of light carries secrets about the material it interacts with-its composition, structure, and even its dynamics. By dissecting light into its spectral components, we can essentially decode a molecular fingerprint. The beauty of spectroscopy is its precision: light doesn’t lie. A subtle dip in an absorption spectrum, a shift in fluorescence, or a sharp peak in Raman scattering tells a story about the material’s structure, environment, or energy states. It’s like speaking a universal language of photons and vibrations, one where every wavelength and intensity is a clue.
Optics isn’t just about bending light-it’s about bending our understanding of the universe, one spectrum at a time.
But, its wrong... and here's why.
1st: the very 1st photo! (no rain)
#2. we have weather cams everywhere now, and literally watch storms roll thru a "rainbow" with sun traveling, and "rainbow" remaining fixed in place.
#3. sideways "rainbows" .... we see them all the time, water falls... stand with a garden hose, side ways "rainbows" all around you!
#4. the "rainbows" of our eyes! that we all see in a steamed glass mirror.
So therefor!
rain/water.... relative to the "rainbow" only in that it enables us to see what is always there.
magnetism
the "magnetic lines" of the earth and.... ourselves.
Its simple as that.
@@TwiddleBee Good 'overall' critical ideas... (Science get better even if criticized). You seem like the kind of guy that doesn't understand Science TBH and spewing half-baked nonsense (all that is easy to replicate in a room with a light source; it is easy science at that point).
If you could prove a static side rainbow exist, i think you are in for the nobel prize (maybe)... But it is so "easy to prove" that you are underestimating 200 years of science at least. (sometimes they are a little blind/partial, but not to that extent lol)
=> So get a video where you walk around a rainbow and it is fixed in place (like a fixed 3D object) and you have a real argument here. Beat science with science, or you are the clown of the circus.
For the 1°) no rain is necessary; just an invisible mist of tiny droplets in the far distance.
2°) I would like to see that video; a time-lapse of a rainbow when the sun is moving could be interesting to analyze. (a simple explanation here is FX.. someone just stamp a rainbow on the video and it is fake... that does exist on internet.) In theory, the rainbow should move with the angle of the sun with a fixed camera.... unless the rainbow is a reflect of the layer of glass on the camera; it happens sometimes. (but it is no "sun-rainbow")
3°) never seen a side rainbow... only partial rainbows and linear diffraction on walls... and when the droplets are not rounds (with a hose the droplets can't be spherical... too random and chaotic)... the caustics would be different; so new phenomenons could occur like "anomalous deformed rainbows" and whatnot...
4°) don't know what your are talking about. is it about drugs early in the morning? ;-) (if you are hallucinating, you could see talking rainbows too... just saying.) Here the sun can't be present, and not at a 40°angle etc... it is diffraction from tiny film of water over glass, but that doesn't make any sort of rainbow. (which is a volumetric phenomenon).
If it is your trolling impression of a "flat-rainbow" conservationist", it is cleverly done... but i'm not sure about people nowadays... their brain power is on the decline, and very fast...
Misconceptions aside, the reason my teacher gave was resistance as the medium was denser. Thanks for the phase kick.
BEST VIDEO EVER! Did all the computations 25years ago by hand... brings back all those wonderful memories. 42 is my favorite number ever since. Thank you!
Answer to the ultimate question of the universe
@@thisisshiva44Did Douglas Adams use 42 because of this?
Douglas Adams favourite too 😉
@@EricStephaniI think it was due to a Richard Feynman reference comparing the ratio between magnitude of the electromagnetic force and gravity, which is the same a as the ratio of the diameter of the Universe and a proton. Which is 1 X 10^42. Or so Feynman claimed.
42.516 right? Did the calculations while watching this vdo
So 42 really IS the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Fascinating!
I literally paused the video to look for a comment like this
The most wonderful rainbows occur at a 69 degree angle.
Dang I knew I wouldn't be the first to think this lol
But only for shades of red....
I liked your comment to have 42 like.. :D
24:46 Derek calling me son feels calming and weird
😂
I believe he said it directly to his son because he would watch it :D
He wasn't talking to you though, he was speaking to the Sun
I like to believe he is like the spiritual father of science, a priest of science you could say perhaps.
🌞 Sun: "Intersting..."
Your videos always engage me and often impress me - but this is the first time I have been deeply moved. As a father, and one entranced by the mysterious, rational, confusing, enlightening voices of science, I resonate so deeply with your desire to reveal this beauty to your son, augmenting his innocent, raw appreciation without diminishing it. Bravo!
When I was in high school, my mother, my sister and I went to Fairbanks, Alaska, and we flew up to Point Barrow. I saw a full circle double rainbow from the plane, with the shadow of the plane in the middle. Thank you for this beautiful video, bringing back a great memory from over fifty years ago!
You can now refer to it as a glory :)
I may be wrong, but I don’t think it was a glory. In the video, the shadow in the center of the glory impinged on the colorful rings. This was much bigger, probably about 40 degrees and nowhere near the plane’s shadow.
@bryancurry1898 I think that would purely be a matter of distance/elevation from the moisture creating the rainbow and that's the surface of the shadow. I've been on a plane that's descended through its own glory on the clouds below, and the shadow at the center of the glory grew as we descended until it swallowed up the glory shortly before we entered the cloud.
@@bryancurry1898 I used to fly Cessnas and the like, and can confirm that you can indeed see a "proper" rainbow that is a full circle. All you need is enough rain below you to complete the circle. I loved bright, showery days, and would go looking for rainbow circles.
"A rainbow is a circle, and the higher you go, the more of it you can see." I read that years ago, and now I finally understand why: it's because it's produced in circular water droplets.
Seeing the glass "raindrop" reflect and showcase how the end points of each color scatter on the reflection make the rainbow was actually spectacular, hah! Never gave it much thought but it's neat to see the science of it, and then actually see it in action! Amazing.
💠
there are videos of rainbows seen from the plane and they are circles
Honestly one of the best piece of media I've seen in a while. Incredible video!!
A month ago, as a teacher to be, I had to prepare a "quick" explenation on rainbows for a seminar. Thus I know, how DEEEEEEEP the rabbit hole goes. Very nice video :)
imagine explaining the full 27 min version to your teacher, she/he would be impressed lol
💙🤍👍🏻
So I take it you decided against the whole "pot of gold" explanation???
This may be my favorite video you've made. Not only was it a fascinating topic explained superbly with interesting and unique demos, but the fact you made it all for your son shows it was a labor of love. I hope he looks back on this, and everything else you've done for him, very fondly
Love ur vids, big fan ,
Why did I read this in grunty voice 😂
Ta ta!! 😂😂
Wait, I almost know you? Are you a poketuber talks about a Pokemon franchise like top 10 or meme etc.
That was a coincidence I guess.
This, Derek, is one of your best episodes to date. Your enthusiasm for the subject is genuine, and it shows.
The first screensaver pic when I openend my Laptop to watch your video: a super sun (with halo and 2 copies of the sun left and right).
So many rainbow-like phenomena out there 😎🌈🙏
24:33 “But it all started with the mystery of rings of color in the fog” it was at that point that I felt so emotional… thank you for what you do and share, our world is amazing and learning about it is an awesome thing
Oh nice! 21:48, I saw one of those while on a plane and couldn't really figure out why I could see this circular rainbow circling around the plane's shadow on the clouds. That is a cool sight
same here, I googled it and found out it was gloria. I saw similar phenomena when flying my FPV drone. I could see a kind of rainbow around my drone's shadow from drone's perspective.
As a teacher of an Art course in "Light & Optics" . . . this is simply phenomenal pedagogy. Brilliantly and clearly explained, excellent use of demos and animations. Spectacular.
This is one of the best explanations I have seen on anything ever. All of my previous intuitions about rainbows got fully revoked and replaced with this video. Amazing work!
One of the best veritasium videos in the past few years. Not just the subject, but the passion you show here towards teaching your son the secrets behind the beuties of the world. It felt personal and touching.
videos like these remind me why i love physics and science in general so much
I have a BSc in space science, MSc in Astrophysics, and PhD in Heliophysics, and this is the first time I really understand how rainbows work. Well done, Derek! Great job!
Bruh
there's a BSc in "space science"?
@@alveolateyeah wtf is heliophysics
so many degrees ?
@@calebrobinson6406 The field of astrophysics that studies the sun
Wonderful explanation!! And there we have our answer to rainbows (at least the red light), the universe and everything: 42 (degree) 😎🌈
This is by far my top 3 Veritasium videos. You have made something absolutely beautiful, Derek. We need these videos on a high school curriculum. They're necessary. Please don't ever stop. Phenomenal explanation, mesmerizing visuals and when you were playing with the large glass ball and your window, I experienced that same crazy excitement when I was experimenting with Lasers.
It's magical.
14:28 Derek's mad scientist laugh!!! "It's ALIVE!!!" 🤣
This video gave me goosebumps for almost all its duration... Specially when, from color to color, degree to degree, it uncovers exactly when/why/how the rainbows appear, all at the same time. This video is just perfect... There's no more to say besides: THANK YOU!
I've seen so many of your videos. But on this one, I hope you feel most gratified for offering this to your son. What a great father you have chosen to be. For I feel like a kid again, who at once thought I knew something, only to marvel, realizing how much more there is to learn and discover. And you did it in a way a kid could understand. Job well done. Hope you continue making videos for your son, and the kid in us all.
Man, I cried of amazement at 16:30. Thank you so much. This is one of your best videos EVER.
1:29 first time I heard Derek's voice crack
And i went strait for the comments searching for someone commenting it😂
I'm fortunate enough to have seen rainbows, double rainbows, a glory/brocken spectre (once), a sun dog (once), and finally polar stratospheric clouds (my favourite). Don't get stuck behind your screen, go out & explore as often as possible 🙂 Great video!
all rainbows are double rainbows, or to be more exact, all rainbows are infinite order rainbows where every order is just fainter and fainter to infinity
@@tl2402 That is not true. A natural rainbow has a hard limit and that limit is where the droplets come from and where they end up. There is a finite amount of bows that can be generated in such a segment. You can try and simulate it on a computer and you'll find that there is a definitive limit. It's a cool project if you can tackle it and share it :]
Of all your videos, over all the years - this is your finest work.
Oh wow!! A veritasium video ....my chores can wait😊
this vid is peak🗿🗿🗿
8:32 of course the optimal angle HAD to be 42deg 🙄
The answer to everything in the Universe 😂.
Sorry about that... Had to tinker with some universe stuff
9:50 shaking your phone with this is fun
😂😂😂
If you shake your head fast enough, it'll sometimes look like its standing still.
I'm a very active amateur astronomer who's hobby has stimulated an insatiable hunger for optical knowledge. I've become quite obsessed with optical designs and star testing.... this video is one of the greatest works of art I've ever seen on the subject of optics, nevermind the fact it's dealing with how a rainbow is made!!
Truly a work of Science & Art. Bravo 👏 👏 👏
4:34 3b1b is just the GOAT
25:51 casually dropping the name of Dustin's channel in a plug for Brilliant. Well played! Also, fantastic video, not just for the amazing explanations and demonstrations, but that it was inspired by your boy's question, and that this video is as much an explanation just for him, as it is a learning tool for us. I love that.
8:37 42 I knew it!
We need more vids like this were kids ask (out of curiosity), and you create a vid answering them. Super insightful, a eureka moment when I suddenly connected the dots leading to "how rainbows" were made.
i have been studying interference for my exam and just took a break to watch RUclips and well Veritasium makes a video on optics. What a day.
Me too buddy, me too
Same here! Just took a break from my thesis, and I' m loving this video so much
same
Sameeeee
No you havent youve been browsing youtube and procrastinating🎉
Veritasium, your team has an extraordinary way of explaining and exploring these concepts in a manner that isn't oversimplified (in a way that would leave more questions), but also not too complex to the point where my brain turns off. I love how these videos not only answer my questions, but expand upon them and also shows where it may exist in the world around us! That's probably one of the most important elements in my opinion. Almost every kid (including myself) always wonders "when or where the heck am I ever going to apply this information in my life?"
The storytelling through the imagery, music, and the order and methods these ideas are presented is top tier, which is why I think this is the culmination of an incredible team's efforts. Life has been incredibly rough lately, so watching this was something that made me stoked to be existing on Earth right now -- with the ability to understand and experience it all -- and that's a gift that can't be bought.
Sending a tremendous thanks and aloha to you and your team, Veritasium.
genuinely impressive how you never miss. Even with topics that I already know all about, you always manage to provide additional insight that I didn't know I needed
In 3D rendering programs, in order to make objects more realistic, we have to use the Index of Refraction (IOR) from the real life materials those objects are made out of. I never knew what IOR actually meant or entailed. This video perfectly explained it. Thanks, and keep doing what you do best!
0:03 let's all thank Derek's son for this video
Gonna have to watch this about 20 times to get my head around it, but that's why this channel's so great. Makes me think.
This is literally the best explanation of how rainbows work I have ever seen, while being exquisitely beautiful at the same time. Thank you.
We literally need a video on why people literally use literal too lazily and incorrectly.
@@dangerfly But he used it correctly. He has never seen a better video about rainbows until this one. Ergo, literally the best he's seen.
Now, is the word "literally" needed there? Well, no. Is it used incorrectly? No!
@@Ulysses182 Their intent was to add emphasis like using all caps or bold and that's a wrong interpretation of how the educated use it to clarify that they are not being metaphorical *when that ambiguity exists*. "Big as a house" is ambiguous for example because it's often used metaphorically.
Kids especially don't understand that nuance and so they are incorrectly using it based on INTENT and lack of ambiguity.
There are sooo *MANY* ways to exaggerate and few to communicate that we are not.
this is one of the most beautifully produced video of veritasium.. I truly enjoy watching your videos.
Bro really made a video for his son. Absolute Legend
And It will take his son years to understand this video.
But why is this video unlisted?
Would you like to play Gacha life with me
No he didn't. He and his team made this video for this channel to earn money. His whole family no doubt watches this channel.
How old is his son? The kid must be a genius 😂
The dedication you've put into this for explaining this for your son is truly impressive
Fantabulous.
Son : "Dad, why are rainbows curved?"
Derek : "how much time you got?"
I had no idea that I was going to learn something new about rainbows. The title was surprisingly not clickbait. Thank you.
The video really did live up to the expectations built in the introduction. Thank you for that video, Derek :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
The 9 rainbow orders are more important than the curvature of rainbow In my opinion. I'm a little dissatisfied you did not go into them at all and how they play directly into what angle your looking at and the orders also depend on what colors come through that you see also. A bit disappointed here especially with the Title.
After a full watch, my original assumption is correct, vertasium you still dont know much about Rainbows lol. I was really hoping to learn something new here. Natural and lab made are another important component as 9 natural rainbow orders and 250+ in lab conditions. Please do more research and make new rainbow video in future.
@@MeetJarred
everyone in 1666: worries about dying of plague
meanwhile Isaac Newton in the attic: 13:41
16:51 "Your shadow is the center of your rainbow". True from a physical and spiritual perspective.
Science quote of the year as far as I'm concerned.
@@Beryllahawk Pop science is not science
What is this even supposed to mean? Science is science, doesn't matter if it's obscure or not. @Tuubasd
This is so true and so cool
Also remember Jesus loves you so he died for you because he wants to know you❤️Repent, God bless
This was amazing. I had learned that calculus explained rainbows in college but these analog visuals are beautiful.
Derek it would be really cool if during your demonstrations, like the light cone off your glass sphere, if you would take a high res photo or two and offer it as a print. A milestone of discovery if you would. It would be cool so see your setup and the demonstration raw in something like that. It would just be something that I would hang on my wall because sometimes things you show genuinely fascinate me.
Mom: there's no such thing as Evil Veritasum
Evil Veritasium: 14:29
Linus : 😧😨😰
The production quality for this video is insane.
Superb. Far better than tv channels - no idiotic waffle here.
The Veritasium Element been really active recently!!
Huge appreciation for Derek & Team!
I always struggled with light refraction and its mechanics. This was the best explanation animation i have very seen on the subject.
I'm literally jumping rn because of my decade long curiosity finally being answered in the best possible way. Frikkin mad respect for you man! 😭✨
0:58 "ohh yeah we're going deep on this one"
eyo hahahaha
*Vine boom noises*
DAAAYUM. DERRICK IS STUNTING ON US
“Over the rainbow” … would’ve been good.
"I couldn't give him a simple explanation but instead I made this video." gives such cool dad vibes
😂😂
Does anyone want to play Gacha life with me
As an educator and fan of atmospheric optical phenomena I really appreciated this detailed explanation. Now for part II and III (or more)... It would be great to see something similar for Parhelia (sun dogs) and various refractions and reflections associates with ice crystals. (Circumzenithal and Circumhorizontal arcs, Upper and lower tangent arcs, Parry arcs and more!) It would be cool to see demos with individual glass (or ice) prisms in the same way you simulated a large raindrop.
Before I even start the video I just want to say my own little fun fact about rainbows. The ones you see outside after a storm, or in a mist of water are yours and yours alone. Each person sees their own rainbow, each one is slightly different, and the only time there is only one is if you are the only one looking at where one should form. You know, because it's about light refracting through the cloud of particles into your eye. I just always thought that was neat.
Edit: Yes! You mention it at 17:00 :D
Luckily though, if you're right beside someone else, they see an extremely similar rainbow to yours 😊
or you can just switch positions with them
you can say that about literally anything. All the photons reaching your eyes are yours and only yours.
@@PinkeySuavo Sure but rainbows are magical! 🌈🤩🌈
0:10 This reminds me of the first time my daughter asked me how fireworks work at age 6. I did the same thing you did and greatly overexplained it going into detail about chemical reactions and particle physics regarding how light is released 🤣🤣
Got to love being a father right?! 😎🤓
I watched the whole video almost crying all the time. it's so great to learn those things and I am rather thankful for someone to pull out something as great as this video. Thank you, Derek, from Brazil.
I didn't know i needed a video on this topic, i thouht i knew it was "obviously due to droplets separating colors, who would not know that, right ?". Thank you, it's nice to be humbled sometimes haha. Your explainations were so clear, you really did a great job ! I think i'll try to replicate your experiment in the room with direct sunlight coming into the glass sphere, it was beautiful and i want to see it in reality !
Fantastic educational video! Thank you!
i am not sure if light reacts to glass sphere the same as water sphere. both are clear but might affect light slightly differently. i am not sure though.
I instantly thought of the Grant's video when you started to talk about "why" refraction happens. Glad to see it used here.
This 27 minute video completely blew my mind. It was absolutely freaking awesome. What an out of the world Dad way of answering to your son's curiosity..... I was totally awe-struck
What I loved about this video and some similar ones also from Veritasium is that he mentioned the more earlier discoverers of the now called "Snell's Law", love how he gives proper respect to relevant mathematicians/ physicists.
is vedio some kind of in-joke?
@@raafmaatis that relavant?
@@koenth2359 yeah im curious why he wrote vedio twice, maybe its some kinda in joke on this channel or something?
@@raafmaat He or she also misspelled relevant, sorry you missed my joke
@@koenth2359 my apologies, i dont make such silly mistakes but was in a state of hurry in this case
I once saw something in the sky that looked like a rainbow at first. Then I noticed, that it was curved in the wrong direction (curved upwards while the sun was below it), which made me very confused about how that could be. It turns out that it is called "circumzenithal arc" and forms due to small ice crystals high in the sky with their orientation aligned so that they have vertical surfaces where the light refracts. According to "the internet" this happens about as often as rainbows, but is rarely noticed because you have to look up at a large angle to see them (In my case someone lying on the ground noticed it and pointed it out).
You can get all kinds of these arcs, "sun dogs", etc. when it comes to looking at the sun when conditions are right!
@@wallyman292 look up "Leaping sundogs". Moving ice crystals caused by electrical discharge within the cloud system. Amazing!
Wow, I'm really flabbergasted. This is without doubt the best video I've ever seen on light. Every time I thought that the phenomenon had been fully explained, another fascinating aspect was introduced, illuminating a new detail of the physics. It takes a special talent to explain with this level of clarity, thanks for making this.
and this is a huge compliment from someone being able to explain complicated topics himself with great effort and enthusiasm! I really enjoy your videos!
Best dad ever.. doesn’t just dismiss questions.. takes them head on 100% !! Now that’s how science is love !!
13:41 Seeing the focussed light at the left side of the sphere I wanted to ask if you've accidentally burned something (but the focus range is very short, so luckily no chance to burn the floor) or purposefully burned your hand with it - I mean, we all have this curiosity, who wouldn't hold their hand into the focus point of the glas sphere to test how strong it is. But you went on and mentioned it and showed how you burned you hand - for science. Well done! 🤗
Needless to mention the whole video is amazing, thanks for making us smarter every other day! ☺
"Isaac Newton didn’t just see the mysterious rainbow; he took it apart and made it follow the laws of physics!"
Your profile picture is off-center
@hexcodeff6624 😅🤣😂💀 ohh, that's a good ab workout early in the morning
Boo brave browser is chrome with a coat of paint
Your profile picture is off center by the way
Hey, I dunno if anyone ever told you, but your profile picture is off center.