Monday, March 21, 2005

I would like to take some time to talk about the sky. Little, small children sometimes ask their parents why the sky is blue, and their parents usually say either "God just made it that way" or "it just is." While I don't disagree with these answers, I would answer the little, small child differently. The kid would say, "Mr. Forrest, why is the sky blue?" Then I would say, "The sky is blue because of an action called scattering, Jimmy. Of the colors on the visible spectrum, blue has the shortest wavelength next only to violet. Particles in the sky absorb the blue light and then reemit it in all directions. The other colors, except violet, pass over the particles. Oh yeah, and God made it that way." Then Jimmy would say, "I have to go, because Mom is making sausage for dinner." And I would say, "I have to go, because I don't really like sausage."

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