Answer:
The scattering caused by these tiny air molecules (known as Rayleigh scattering) increases as the wavelength of light decreases. Violet and blue light have the shortest wavelengths and red light has the longest. Therefore, blue light is scattered more than red light and the sky appears blue during the day.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sky appears blue to us because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. Sunlight is made up of different colors, each with a different wavelength. When sunlight enters Earth's atmosphere, the shorter blue wavelengths are scattered more easily than the longer red wavelengths. This happens because the blue light interacts more with the molecules in the air, causing it to be redirected in many different directions.
As a result, when we look up at the sky, we see the blue light being scattered in all directions, which gives the sky its blue color. During sunrise and sunset, when the sun is closer to the horizon, the light has to pass through more of the atmosphere. This causes more of the blue light to be scattered away and leaves behind the longer red wavelengths, resulting in a reddish or orange hue in the sky.
In summary, the sky appears blue because of the way sunlight is scattered by the molecules in Earth's atmosphere.