Why before it rains do the clouds turn black?

Question

Why before it rains do the clouds turn black?

Answer 1

because the clouds block out the sun... no sun means darkness, which is why the bottom of the clouds become so dark, they are too dense to allow the suns rays to shine through.

Answer 2

The tiny water droplets and ice crystals in clouds are just the right size to scatter all colors of light, compared with the smaller molecules of air that scatter blue light most effectively. When light contains all colors, we perceive it as white. When clouds are thin, they let a large portion of the light through and appear white. But like any objects that transmit light, the thicker they are, the less light makes it through. As their thickness increases, the bottoms of clouds look darker but still scatter all colors. We perceive this as gray. If you look carefully, you will notice that the relatively flat bottoms of clouds are always a little grayer than their sides. The taller the clouds become, the grayer their bottoms look.

Answer 3

just like the first person said and the clouds are holding the reain inside

Answer 4

Clouds are made of steam.When the concentration of the water in the air increases,the cloud darkens.Once the Dewpoint is reached,rain is released.

Answer 5

The evaporation of the water gets too heavy and so it gets dark, and when its TOO heavy it rains...=s This isnt the best but hope it helps some what =)

Answer 6

Clouds usually look gray when we are directly underneath them. This is because sunlight does not shine directly on the bottom of clouds, but rather shines through the tops of clouds. Sunlight gets blocked more when the cloud is thicker. So the bottom of the cloud looks dark. If the cloud is thin, it may appear more white because there is less cloud matter to block sunlight. f you are under a tall dark cloud, wait until it passes, and look at it's side. The side of the cloud will be illuminated by sunlight, and thus all white. So, the brightness of the cloud (white versus gray or black) has a lot to do with where you are standing and the thickness of the cloud.

Sunlight has to travel thousands of feet through the cloud to our eyes. As the light travels through the thick cloud it gets scattered, absorbed, and reflected away from our eyes. In the end, this means that less and less light reaches our eyes