Why don't clouds refract light?

[Frank-95]

Hi all.

I have just passed my phisics 2 exam since a little time, and during the study of refraction a questions arose into my head: Why clouds does not refract light?
They are water vapour after all, so why do they not refract light, like it happens after raining with rainbows?

 

[blue_leaf77]

Atmosphere does refract light.

 

[Frank-95]

I never saw any cloud refracts the different colors of the light though, except some halos around the moon at night.

 

[davenn]

I never saw any cloud refracts the different colors of the light though, except some halos around the moon at night.

and of the sun, also look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud
and this ( I have seen many times)

all caused by the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals in cloudsDave

 

[blue_leaf77]

I never saw any cloud refracts the different colors of the light though,

From your wording, it sounds like your picture of refraction is a light being dispersed into different colors. That is dispersion, not refraction. Clouds can also cause dispersion though, the example of which has been given by davenn above, as well as the halos.

 

[davenn]

Clouds can also cause dispersion though, the example of which has been given by davenn above

dispersion may better describe it
I, maybe mistakenly, had always thought of it as refraction through the ice crystals
Refraction resulting in dispersion ??

Dave

 

[Khashishi]

Both refraction and dispersion are occurring. Dispersion occurs because of wavelength-dependent refraction.

 

[Jon Physis]

So all clouds refract light and clouds with ice crystals disperse it due to the crystal structures interacting with the light at various wavelengths/frequencies?

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

and of the sun, also look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud
and this ( I have seen many times)

View attachment 98461

That’s beautiful, @davenn! I never saw that before. Perhaps I should look up more.

 

[Kevin McHugh]

Any time light passes through a medium it will refract, ie, the vacuum/atmosphere interface, the atmosphere/water interface, etc.The velocity of light is different in air vs, a vacuum, vs water. The magnitude will depend on the medium's refractive index. As someone else said, the dispersion is wavelength dependent.

 

[Kevin McHugh]

That’s beautiful, @davenn! I never saw that before. Perhaps I should look up more.

We get that effect here a lot in sunny S Florida, especially with our summertime clouds.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

We get that effect here a lot in sunny S Florida, especially with our summertime clouds.

I live in sunny S California, and we have summertime clouds, too

 

[Kevin McHugh]

I live in sunny S California, and we have summertime clouds, too

Then look up more often Quarky!

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Then look up more often Quarky!

Will do! I tend to walk looking slightly down, in fear of tripping on something, but then I’m unaware of what’s on top of me . . . or in front of me (like that lady holding a baby at the grocery store or that metal pole at the tennis court)

I have to pick between cracks, poles, ladies, and refraction of light. Which one is most important??

 

[pixel]

The main effect in clouds is the scattering of light (Mie scattering). Water droplets in the clouds scatter all wavelengths from the sun, making the clouds appear white. In the sky, the molecules are small, Rayleight scattering predominates and is strongest for blue wavelengths.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Hi all.

I have just passed my phisics 2 exam since a little time, and during the study of refraction a questions arose into my head: Why clouds does not refract light?
They are water vapour after all, so why do they not refract light, like it happens after raining with rainbows?

As pixel mentioned, clouds (whether composed of ice or liquid water) primarily scatter light, clouds appear white because the light is multiply scattered. Like snow. And milk.