Why is ocean water and the sky blue?

Question

Why is water the color that it is? Is it the elements in the water. Is it from evaporation, when the water is evaporated and goes into the blue sky does it come back down with the color of blue. Also why is the sky blue. These are the questions that I have. Please help me understand. Thank You.

Answer 1

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.







As you look closer to the horizon, the sky appears much paler in color. To reach you, the scattered blue light must pass through more air. Some of it gets scattered away again in other directions. Less blue light reaches your eyes. The color of the sky near the horizon appears paler or white.


Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Some of the sunlight is reflected off the surface of the water, reflecting the color of the sky. Some of the sunlight penetrates the water and is scattered by ripples and particles in the water (this tinges the appearance of the ocean with the color of the particles). In deep water, much of the sunlight is scattered by the oxygen in the water, and this scatters more of the blue light.

Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light. Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman (an Indian physicist) won the Nobel prize in 1930 for his work on light.


Some Oddly-Colored Seas:
The Red Sea often looks red because of red algae that live in this sea.
The Black Sea looks almost black because it has a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide (which appears black).

Answer 2

BLUE SKY

The blue color of the sky is caused by the scattering of sunlight off the molecules of the atmosphere. This scattering, called Rayleigh scattering, is more effective at short wavelengths (the blue end of the visible spectrum). Therefore the light scattered down to the earth at a large angle with respect to the direction of the sun's light is predominantly in the blue end of the spectrum.

The strong wavelength dependence of Rayleigh scattering enhances the short wavelengths. Intensity is INVERSLY proportional to fourth power of wavelength.

Note that the blue of the sky is more saturated when you look further from the sun. The almost white scattering near the sun can be attributed to MIE Scattering, which is not very wavelength dependent.

OCEAN

The sky condition can make a big difference, as
a clear blue sky will be reflected by the water
as a darker color, whereas a cloudy sky will be
reflected as a lighter color.

The depth of the water changes how much light is
reflected from the sea bottom below. For shallow
water, such as near a beach, the light reflected from
the sand below the water will make the water look
lighter (thus green) than it will look if you are
in deep water (where little or no light is reflected
from the bottom, resulting in dark blue water).

Light is also reflected from the interior of the
water also, and the color of whatever is in the water
(seaweed, soil, suspended sand, etc.) will affect
the color that you see from the water.

The Sun angle affects the water color also, as less
light is reflected from the surface, bottom, and interior
of the water near noontime than is reflected during early
morning or evening. The water is likely to look darker
around noontime.

Not all of the oceans are even the same color, or even the same
color in different places. Mostly this has to do with what is in
the water. Near shore, deep currents push up considerable amounts of minerals from the seabeds, and microscopic life florishes. In deeper seas, although by no means devoid of life, the algeal blooms are not present, so there is a clearer view through the water. Different oceans have different mineral content as well, meaning some take on an almost teal appearence, while others may appear more greyish in color.

Answer 3

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.

However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

Answer 4

The ocean isn't blue, it's the reflection of light from the sky that makes it appear to be blue.

Answer 5

Water is colorless but it has the reflection of the sky, and is thus blue.

The color of the sky is a result of diffuse sky radiation and the fact that air is actually a very transparent purple color[1]. On a sunny day the Earth sky usually looks as a blue gradient — dark in the zenith, light near the horizon (due to Rayleigh scattering). It turns orange and red during sunrise and sunset, and becomes black at night.

Answer 6

Blue light gets scattered (spread) around much more than all the other colors from the sun, causing the sky to appear blue.
Colors are actually different wave lengths of light, similar to frequency's on your FM or AM radio. Each color has it's own frequency.
The BEST site for this info is: http://www.whyistheskyblue.org

Answer 7

A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight.

The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours of the rainbow. This was demonstrated by Isaac Newton, who used a prism to separate the different colours and so form a spectrum. The colours of light are distinguished by their different wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges from red light with a wavelength of about 720 nm, to violet with a wavelength of about 380 nm, with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The three different types of colour receptors in the retina of the human eye respond most strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths, giving us our colour vision


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Answer 8

The colours of the water and sky is because light is composed of visible radiation of different frequencies. This gives the colours that we see (and is called a spectrum).

These different frequencies of light bend at different rates when then travel through a substance (air, water, plastic, oil, etc.). It is this bending that causes the colour.

In the air (atmosphere) there is another component as well. In the atmosphere, there are many substances, different gases and dust. When the light hits these substances, they are reflected and "scattered" (scattering effect) in different amounts.

Answer 9

A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight.



The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours of the rainbow. This was demonstrated by Isaac Newton, who used a prism to separate the different colours and so form a spectrum. The colours of light are distinguished by their different wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges from red light with a wavelength of about 720 nm, to violet with a wavelength of about 380 nm, with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The three different types of colour receptors in the retina of the human eye respond most strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths, giving us our colour vision.

Answer 10

The water reflects the color of the sky. If the sky is grey, water is grey. Deep water may be black because the color is absorbed. The sky is blue because the red light from white light of the sun is absorbed and the blue is scattered so we see it.
Water is clear and has no color unless dye is added.