Is water is colorless why when we paint a lake we put it blue?

Answer 1

Because the water reflects the colour of the sky, which looks blue.

Answer 2

Guys, the sky being blue has nothing to do with the colour of a body of water. It has to do with the depth of the water, and the amount of small lifeforms that live in it. And the angle which which you look at a specific surface of the water. Otherwise why does a lake still look blue when the sky is overcast???

When you look straight down into the water from a boat in the middle of a lake, it looks black because the light from the sun is passing through the water and gets absorbed by the bottom. If you look at the same spot from shore, you are seeing reflected light from the surface of the water. Since the surface is never smooth, normally the frequency of light that gets refracted and reflected back is blue.

This is the same reason the sky is blue, light is refracted through water vapour in the air. Next time look and see that there are different shades of blue in the sky depending on whether you are looking a the sky close to the sun or further away from it.

Have a look at a ocean beach, you'll see that the shade of blue is lighter in shallow water and darker blue in deeper water. This is due to the light reflecting from the sand bottom.

Why is the water in some ocean beaches coloured green? Same answer it depends on the properties of the water and which frequency of light gets refracted and reflected back.

Answer 3

The water in a lake is practically never colourless.
And in reality neither is water. Small amounts of water appear to be colourless, but in reality there is a small blue tint to it.
So when larger quantities are present the colour shows more.
The blue tint is due to hydrogen bonding and the polarity of water molecules. Water molecules absorb some of the red from light, causing it to look blue.

Also, have you ever looked at a lake? Does it look transparent to you?


Large bodies of water do reflect the colour of the sky. But that is NOT why they look blue. THat is a common misconception (very common based on the previous answers).

Answer 4

Water IS colorless in its natural state, however you will know from experience oceans, lakes, and bodies of water are varying shades of blue.

It has a lot to do with what is underneath - not so much what the color of water is. In the carribean, the shallow sections of the ocean are bright sky blue when bright coral is reflected underneath.

Answer 5

Water is colorless.. we see lakes and particularly the Ocean as being blue because it reflects the sky and because Blue is the last wavelength of light to be absorbed by the water. if green light or orange light were the last to be absorbed then the water would look green or orange.

Answer 6

Water isn't colorless when you're far away, it does look bluish green from farther away, plus, it'd be hard to tell it was water in paintings if it was clear, it would look just like the air, so even when it's a closeup painting of water, we use the blue to show it's water.

Answer 7

Water is colorless, but the water's blue just reflect the blue color from the sky. That is why using a pair of naked eyes, we see it blue because it is a natural scene. On sunny days, you mostly would see the water blue color. But in cloudy days, you may see the water gray or darker color because it reflect the color from the sky because of sky's strong day light.

Answer 8

It depends on the lake bottom. If the bottom is rock the water will be clearer and reflect the blue sky. If the bottom is muddy the water will look muddy or green and won't reflect as much.

Answer 9

the depth of the water, the compounds that are suspended in it, and the color of the lake bed make it appear dark. I don't know about blue... Personally I've never seen a blue lake.

Answer 10

Water is colorless. Pollutants may color it. The blue color is the reflection of the sky, as well as the absorption of blue colors from the light spectrum.