Why is the sky blue?

Why is the sky blue?

We have all wondered, at some point, why the sky is blue. Now is the time to find out – after all, someday your kids will probably ask YOU why the sky is blue! Ready?

The light that comes from the Sun is white. That white light is actually a mixture of all colors, but because they are mixed up we don’t see the separate colors just the white sunlight.

As the sun’s light passes through our atmosphere, the light becomes scattered by all the air and particles such smog and dust. The part of the sunlight that gets scattered the most is the blue part. That means that the blue gets separated from the other colors and we get a blue sky!

At sunset or sunrise, the sun is at a very low angle, so the rays pass through even more molecules and particles. This scatters the light even more, separating red, orange and yellow from the white light. The more particles, the more scattering.

What would a compass point to if you were at the North Pole?

Believe it or not, there are actually TWO North Poles – the one at the top of the earth and what is known as MAGNETIC NORTH. Magnetic north is actually in northern Canada, and that is where compasses point to.

Now, on to your question…if you were standing exactly on top of the magnetic north pole, your compass would point nowhere in particular since the place it is used to pointing to is at your feet! You should know that finding magnetic north is not always easy – the spot is actually moving about 10 miles northwest every year. Since it was discovered in 1831, magnetic north has traveled many miles from its original spot!