Why Is the Sky Blue? Rayleigh Scattering Explained

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1. 12 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   Fix scattering ratios to match the 1/lambda^4 law: (550/450)^4 ~ 2.2 (blue vs green), (700/450)^4 ~ 5.9 (blue vs red); 9-10x is violet-vs-red.

   Before

   FAQ (What is Rayleigh scattering?): 'blue light scatters roughly 10 times more than red light' and 'blue light ... scatters approximately (700/450)^4 ≈ 5.5 times more than red light'

   After

   FAQ (What is Rayleigh scattering?): 'Blue light scatters roughly 6 times more than red light' and 'blue light ... scatters approximately (700/450)^4 ≈ 5.9 times more than red light'

   Why: Body content already correctly used the 2.2x/5.9-6x figures per the 1/lambda^4 law, but the FAQ JSON-LD field still carried two stale numbers: the FAQ's summary answer said blue scatters '10 times' more than red (the unverified violet-vs-red figure misapplied to blue), and the Rayleigh-scattering definition answer said '5.5 times' instead of the correct ~5.9x. Both corrected to match the verified math and the fixed body text.

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