Final answer:
The colors in a rainbow are related to the dispersion of light, with blue and violet colors bending the most when refracted due to their shorter wavelengths.
Step-by-step explanation:
The colors seen in a rainbow are most closely related to the phenomenon of dispersion. Rainbows are formed when sunlight passes through raindrops in the atmosphere, resulting in a spectrum of colors. These colors—from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, to violet—represent different wavelengths of light. Blue and violet light bend the most when refracted because they have shorter wavelengths compared to the longer wavelengths of red light which bend the least. Consequently, when a ray of sunlight encounters a raindrop and passes into it, the various wavelengths are refracted at different angles, causing the spread of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths. This separation of light into a range of colors is visible as a rainbow to an observed.