Chapter 13, Problem 17TE

If the sky were composed of atoms that predominantly scattered orange light rather than blue, what color would sunsets be?

To determine

The color at the sunset, if the sky were composed of atoms that predominantly scattered orange light rather than blue.

Answer to Problem 17TE

If the sky were composed of atoms that scattered orange light rather than blue, then the color of the sunset would be blue.

Explanation of Solution

During sunrise and sunset, the Sun is at the farthest position from the Earth and due to different wavelengths of colors, the white light is dispersed into colors through water molecules. The red color has the highest wavelength, so it does not scatter during the process and we see the perception of red color during sunrise and sunset.

If the sky were composed of atoms that scattered orange light rather than blue light, then the process gets reversed. During sunset, it would be blue because, in that case, atoms scattered the colors of high wavelength. And it may be possible that the color that will not scatter will be violet, indigo, and blue. But, as the blue color is one of the primary colors and human eyes are most sensitive to the primary colors. So, during sunset, our eyes see the perception of blue.

Conclusion:

Therefore, if the sky were composed of atoms that scattered orange light rather than blue, then the color of the sunset would be blue.