Saturday, November 9, 2019
Why the sky is blue and the clouds are white?
Ever wondered why the sky is blue?
The sun is a large shiny star that sends light to all surrounding space.
Light can travel in a vacuum, and it travels to earth.
So, if the sun is sending white light, why the sky appear blue!
The light is an electromagnetic spectrum, electromagnetic wave, each wave travels from the sun with a different wavelength and different frequency.
The light coming from the sun contains all types of electromagnetic spectrum, such as; microwaves, infrared light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, gamma-rays, and visible light.
White light is a mixture of wavelengths, of the visible portion, of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible spectrum).
We see all the rainbow colors mixed as white light, but if we passed light through a prism, we will see rainbow colors.
Each color we see comprise a certain amount of energy, has a certain wavelength, and definite frequency.
When white light falls on your red T-shirt, your T-shirt absorbs all colors except for red. Your T-shirt reflects the red color, and you see your T-shirt in red.
A similar thing happens in the sky. When the white color coming from the sun interact with the atmosphere, the air particles absorb all visible colors except for blue.
Air particles scatter the blue color in all directions, this is why we see the sky in blue, and we see the scattered blue color.
But why the clouds appear white?
Clouds are made of water vapor, water vapor consists of large water molecules that scatter all colors.
We see these colors mixed as a white color, and the clouds appear white. Water molecules are transparent, but they are so large that they scatter all visible spectrum and appear white.
So why clouds sometimes appear gray?
The scattered light from the white clouds scatter in all directions, but on a rainy day, the water molecules at the bottom of the cloud become so dense to allow the light to pass, where the top part of the cloud scatter light. The clouds become dark from the bottom, and light from the top, and we see them in gray.
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