is the sky bluer on top a mountain?

Answer 1

Generally it is - because the air is drier, tends to be less polluted (though don't tell that to anyone around Denver during a smoggy day - was there once a long time ago and saw it myself), and contains less water vapor (thus less haze).

There are basically 2 types of scattereing in the atmosphere - moelcular and aerosol. Aerosol scattering is proportional to the inverse of the wavelength of light (~ 1/L) and molecular scattering proportional to the inverse of wavelength to the 4th power (~ 1/L^4). What that bascially means is that blue light with the shorter wavelength is scattered quicker and more abundantly than than yellow, orange, and red with the longer wavelength - especially so for molecular scattering.

The air is of course molecules, so scatter blue very much and not as much yellow-red. This scattering is to a close approximation isotropic - spread evenly over the entire sky. So at the high location, there is plenty of blue scattered thruout the sky. Heading lower, much of the blue has already been scattered and more of the yellow-red starts to be.

Yellow-red is scattered quicker by aerosols (though blue still more), and predominately forward (from the solar disc). Aerosol particles settle (lower) in the atmosphere, so more of the yellow-red scattering occurs there. There is also more water vapor and haze.

True that if you go high enough or the atmosphere is very clear (e.g., clean & dry air behind a polar front), the sky can have a noticeable purple tinge to it - purple being shorter wavelength than blue - and appear darker.

There is another good answer which probably will not be chosen.

Answer 2

I think the sky would be darker and less blue at the top of a high mountain. The sky is blue because of molecules in the atmosphere scattering light. Blue light scatters better than red light, so it "spreads out" through the sky, and the sky appears blue. At the top of a mountain, there is less atmosphere above you to scatter the light, and hence the sky would be darker. (If you kept going higher and higher, you would end up in space, where the "sky" is black.)

I'm not sure how high of a mountain you'd have to be on to notice this effect, though. There probably isn't much of a difference until you start climing Everest or something.

Answer 3

The sky may be a little cloudy on the top of a mountain and you may not be able to see the blue.'

Answer 4

The air scatters all colours of light, but more likely to scatter blue. The more air you are looking through the more scattered light you see. If there is enough scattering it will look white, as it ofen doesn towards to horizon.

On a mountain you are looking though less air and will see less scattered light. It will look a darker deeper blue because of this.

Answer 5

yes the air is cleaner way up there it isn't full of smog and all the things that we do done in the towns and cities to dirty it up.

Answer 6

The air is thinner!

Answer 7

No.