WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

We all like a nice day with a clear blue sky. But what is that makes the sky blue? This
question has been asked since pre-history.
The light coming from the sun is white light but something must happen to it in the
atmosphere to make it appear blue to us. White light is made up of a spectrum of colours. If
one colour as absorbed or subtracted in some manner, the rest of the light takes on some other
colour as a result.
In 1869, John Tyndall, a British scientist, suggested that dust and other particles in the
atmosphere were the cause of the blue colour. If this were true, through, the sky would
change colour depending on the amount of particles in the air. This pointed to the fact that air
itself was the reason.
When light comes into the atmosphere it is absorbed by gas molecules which become
excited by the added energy and then re-emit photons. Photons of different wavelights have
different colours. It was discovered that there are eight times more photons with the blue
wavelength. It is because of them that we see what is an apparently blue sky. There are other
colours in the sky but there is so much blue that it drowns them out.

Choose the best alternative to complete each statement below, according to the text.

1. According to the passage, white----- .

A) is the remaining colour of the spectrum which is not absorbed in the
atmosphere
B) is the easiest of all colours to be absorbed in the atmosphere
C) turns into other colours after entering the atmosphere
D) is a sign that the weather is good
E) inherits all the colours in it

2. The question of what make sthe sky blue-----.

A) is hardly discussed
B) hasn’t been answered
C) was answered by John Tyndall, in 1867
D) has been asked by man since the earliest times
E) wasn’t asked until 1867
3. In spite of other colours in the sky we see it as blue because----.
A) the other colours are not absorbed in the atmosphere
B) dust and particles prevent the light from reaching the surface of the Earth
C) the light itself, indeed, is white
D) there is a great variety of wavelengths in the sky
E) the blue wavelength constitutes the majority of re-emitted photons