When we look at the light coming from a light or the Sun, we see it as white, for the most part. But it’s more.
There are three main colors of light – red, blue and green. These three main colors combine to make all of the different colors we see. The colors are how our eyes interpret different wavelengths of light. Short wavelengths are seen as blue, medium wavelengths are green, and short wavelengths are red. The wavelengths in between are the colors inbetween - orange, yellow, and blue. When all of the colors are mixed in equal parts, we see white.
When you shine white light through a prism, you separate the wavelengths of light. Each wavelength bends at a different angle, spreading them apart. And that’s why we see a spectrum. Rainbows are formed the same way, only the light is bent by droplets of water, not a prism. Sometimes, if conditions are right, the light gets bent again and forms a secondary rainbow. In the secondary rainbow, the colors are inside out. Normally red is on the outside and violet on the inside, but on a secondary rainbow it's the violet on the outside and the red on the inside. See for yourself. The secondary rainbow is faint; you may need to click on the picture to enlarge it to see both rainbows.
(photo from Wikipedia Commons, by Eric Rolph)
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