Why is the sky blue? why is snow white?

Question

Why is the sky blue? why is snow white?

Answer 1

The sky is blue because light from the sun is scattering by atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.

Light scattering by particles depends on the relative "sizes" of the photons and the particles.

In the case of visible light, molecules are much smaller than the wavelength of light, so blue light gets scattered much more than red light.

So as light from the sun enters the atmosphere, more blue photons get reflected (not absorbed) by molecules than red photons - but then the blue photons get reflected again and again until they reach us. So the blue light comes from all over, the red light comes almost straight from the sun.

This is also why the sun looks redder at sunrise and sunset - the light's path through the atmosphere is longer when the sun is on the horizon than when it is high in the sky.

Interaction of light with the atmosphere does all sorts of weird and wonderful things that physics can explain:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hba...



Or look at the many times this question has been asked before by searching for your question – I think it has been asked over 8000 times

Snow is white because it reflects all colors...

Answer 2

ask.com

Answer 3

Because those colors are the ones God chose.How come there are no deep blue perennial flowers? They say they are blue but they are really purple in color.