Where does the "white" go when the snow melts?

Question

But even in the middle of the night.... its still white so the idea of it reflecting only daylight doesn't, well, wash?

Answer 1

haha, interesting question. The crystals that form in snow must reflect all light so we see them as white. As the crystals melt, the water no longer reflects light so we see the water as being clear.

Answer 2

Here is an explanation of why snow is white:

"Snow is a whole bunch of individual ice crystals arranged together. When a light photon enters a layer of snow, it goes through an ice crystal on the top, which changes its direction slightly and sends it on to a new ice crystal, which does the same thing. Basically, all the crystals bounce the light all around so that it comes right back out of the snow pile. It does the same thing to all the different light frequencies, so all colors of light are bounced back out. The "color" of all the frequencies in the visible spectrum combined in equal measure is white, so this is the color we see in snow, while it is not the color we see in the individual ice crystals that form snow. "

So, of course, once the snow melts, there is no longer anything there to bounce back the light, so the "white" is gone. Check the site for more information.

Answer 3

It doesn't have to be daylight: any form of light will have the same effect.
The white that you see is a result of the crystal structure, so when the crystals melt, the white disappears
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/faqs/faqs.htm

Answer 4

snow appears white when it reflects light. this can be daylight or any other form of light. if it looks white to you that means you can see it, and if you can see it that means there is some kind of light reflecting off its surface

Answer 5

'White' also melts as a snow, it change color to gray color of water.