No doubt about it: blue is an enchanting hue–think sky-blue hydrangeas, faded denim jeans and Provencal architecture–but learning French will help you express yourself more vividly when speaking about all the hues of blue.
Keep in mind that French colors as adjectives usually adapt to match the gender and number of the noun they describe; however, there may be exceptions to this rule.
The Sun
As sunlight reaches Earth, it interacts with our planet’s atmosphere. Light waves that penetrate this layer interact with different particles such as dust, water droplets, tiny ice crystals and gas molecules found within the air – and those shorter in wavelength such as blues are scattered more strongly by these particles than longer wavelengths such as reds.
Rayleigh scattering is the primary factor behind the blue hue of the sky during daylight, though other types of scattering such as Tyndall scattering may contribute to its depths as light hits sea or land surfaces.
Sunlight is composed of all the colors in the rainbow, from reds and greens to oranges and violets. As sunlight reaches our atmosphere it loses some green and red wavelengths through Rayleigh scattering but has gained more blue wavelengths that reflect back into space – this gives the sky its characteristic hue! Without these blue wavelengths reflecting back up through space it would look much yellower.
One of the more widespread misconceptions is that the sky is blue because of reflection from ocean waters; however, ocean waters make up only a tiny portion of Earth’s total area and other factors contribute to creating its unique hue.
Sky color tends to darken nearer the horizon than overhead due to light traveling further through our atmosphere and coming into contact with more particles such as gas molecules, dust and water droplets before reaching us. Furthermore, scattering effects become stronger as sun descends lower as more of its rays travel tangentially towards Earth’s surface.
Many sports teams have adopted sky blue as their team color, including the New South Wales Blues rugby league team, Uruguay national football team and Italian club soccer clubs River Plate F.C and Napoli F.C. Additionally, Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Fernando Alonso at Renault have had their Formula 1 race cars painted celeste to mark them out from competition.
The Earth’s Atmosphere
An atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding any celestial body, such as Earth. Our atmosphere, also referred to as air, consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 0.97% argon along with trace amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapor hydrogen and other gases as well as solid or liquid particles such as clouds dust or smoke that form clouds, protect life on Earth from meteoroids and ultraviolet solar radiation while insulating our surface from temperature extremes day and night and keeping the planet comfortable throughout its year long existence. The atmosphere provides life on Earth by protecting life by absorbing meteoroids while insulates the surface warming us from temperature extremes between day and night while mitigating temperature extremes by keeping surfaces warm through insulation as well as decreasing temperature extremes between day and night in all year-long.
The sky appears blue due to light’s scattering in the atmosphere, caused by microscopic particles smaller than wavelengths of visible light and known as Mie scattering particles in the air. As a result, colors near blue wavelengths are most strongly scattered while other wavelengths are scattered less strongly; our eyes have evolved to respond appropriately and perceive this spectrum as blue sky.
But not just blue wavelengths are scattered; all colors of the rainbow have some degree of scattering as well, although red and green wavelengths are less scattered than their blue counterparts. When we gaze upon the sky, most of what strikes our eyes are blue and violet wavelengths rather than orange and yellow ones; thus creating the appearance of an almost-blue sky with subtle green overtones.
Earth’s atmosphere stretches up to 10,000 kilometers (over 6,214 miles) above its surface before eventually merging with space. It can be divided into layers based on temperature; with the troposphere being the closest to the ground and where most weather occurs; followed by stratosphere which contains an ozone layer where jet aircraft fly; then comes mesosphere which contains few air molecules to absorb heat energy.
The Sea
People often assume that the sky appears blue because the sea reflects it, when in reality there is no actual color to speak of and only seems so from land because its surface reflects sun light back onto our eyes, giving the illusion of blueness to our perception.
This site provides plenty of information and resources about why the sky is blue, as well as resources specifically targeted toward kids to further their understanding. However, it’s important to keep in mind that its science varies depending on the time of day: when the Sun is at its highest during the daytime it must travel through thicker atmosphere that scatters more blue light away allowing only reds and yellows through. That explains why sunrise and sunset skies look different!
Understanding colors is vital! In French, sky blue is known as Bleu d’Ocean (Ocean Blue). This vivid and light shade reminds one of a sunny day by the sea; its peaceful, soothing characteristics symbolize tranquility and can be found on flags of Argentina, Botswana, Fiji and Bahamas.
The ocean and sky appear blue because different wavelengths of light interact with different substances. Water molecules are especially adept at absorbing longer wavelengths, so when sunlight hits open water it transforms to blue hues.
Not surprisingly, one reason the ocean looks blue is due to sail color: when a ship sails in the sea its sails often feature bright hues like blue because sailors wanted them easily visible even under direct sunlight. Sky and ocean colors also play a huge role in how people feel while visiting these destinations; their presence attracts many to places such as Mykonos or Saint-Tropez for life!
The Sky
Light passes through the atmosphere and is scattered by molecules of gas in the air, with blue being scattered more than red and creating the impression that the sky is blue. But this doesn’t explain why it always remains that way – just that oftentimes it does so.
People were slow to realize the reason the sky is blue is because of air itself, until John Tyndall came along in 1859 and gave an accurate explanation. He found that light passing through a clear fluid with small particles suspended can produce stronger blue wavelength scattering than red ones due to these particles absorbing some blue light while reflecting other wavelengths back.
Einstein demonstrated in 1911 that the relative strength of scattering for different wavelengths is proportional to their inverse fourth power of wavelength, so for instance blue sunlight reaching Earth’s atmosphere is four times more likely to be scattered by nitrogen gas molecules than red infrared radiation, thus explaining why skies appear blue while moonlight appears red when close by.
What’s interesting about why the sky is blue is that when we view it, our brain interprets it as solid object despite being actually made up of nothing more than air molecules arranged randomly within space-time void. Only because our eyes and brain tell us there’s color within the void does our perception change to create what looks like solidity to us.
Light sky blue (hex code #87CEFA) is an innocuous hue that conveys openness and honesty, while at the same time suggesting reliability – making it a popular choice among businesses looking to project trustworthiness. Sports teams such as Australia’s New South Wales Blues rugby league team as well as Uruguayan national football team have used sky blue jerseys since 1910 while Formula One racing teams like Benetton and Renault also feature this shade as part of their uniforms.