Why is snow the color white?

Answer 1

Because the structure of snow causes it to reflect all light that falls on it.

If you mix all of the colors of light together, then it looks white. If you have something that absorbs red light only, then it looks green (because it reflects everything but red). Snow reflects everything. But is also scatters light, so the reflected light mixes together (that's why you don't see your own image when you look at it).

Answer 2

Bright marshmallow-colored snow blinds us with its gleaming white color because it reflects beams of white light. Instead of absorbing light, snow's complex structure prevents the light from shining through its lattice formation.

A beam of white sunlight entering a snow bank is so quickly scattered by a zillion ice crystals and air pockets that most of the light comes bouncing right back out of the snow bank. What little sunlight is absorbed by snow is absorbed equally over the wavelengths of visible light thus giving snow its white appearance.

Answer 3

technically, snow isnt white....well actually technically nothing is the color that it is. a blue shirt isnt blue, it just absorbs all the colors of light that the sun emits except blue. ok, this is going to get confusing, lol. basically, snow is clear. but when light passes through it, the arrangement of the atoms bounces the light around so much that the colors dont come straight out. they bounce all over the place inside the pile of snow, because snow/ice crystals are translucent. when all the colors of the visual spectrum are combined in equal amounts, it makes white.

Answer 4

I answered this a few days ago:

Snow is white for the same reason clouds are white, a bowl of sugar is white, salt is white and a polar bear's fur is white. If you look at the individual elements that make up the whole they are transparent. Ice, sugar crystals, cloud water droplets and polar bear hairs are all transparent.

White light falling on them is scattered by the small elements. A mixture of reflection and refraction, the light is scattered back at all angles. As the light is not organised as it is with a rainbow, the colours are not separated so you see the scattered white light as white snow/cloud/sugar/fur.

Answer 5

Randy G is the only one above with the correct answer. Snow is white because the water molecules in a snow flake reflect all colors of sunlight equally well. It's as simple as that.........

Answer 6

Thats just a stupid question how are we going to know

Answer 7

because that is the way God made it and then we can tell rain and it apart.