Why is snow white and ice clear? Aren't they just different forms of water?

Answer 1

Snow and Ice are both water, but snow normally contains dust particles.

Still both are solids and should have very similar properties. They are both crystal forms and cold, however the similarities end there. Snowflakes are basically flat crystals that pile up on each other. No snowflake is related to any other in the pile so they are just like stacking a lot of white plates on top of each other.

Clouds form when water vapor collected around dust particles, snow and hail are just cold forms of rain. When the crystals form then gather around the dust seed particles and have no connection or relationship with any other crystals. So when the snow falls it just stacks up and it isn't clear.

On the microscopic scale the snowflake is only a crystal in one plane. There are other bits of snow piled onto the snowflake in a chaotic pattern. This creates an opaque structure, a form that you can’t see through.

Ice is another crystallized form of water, but it is much more rigid and orderly. Ice forms in a gradual manner with the change in the temperature. As the ice slowly freezes it’s molecules line up and they do it in the same order. As the cold grows and penetrates the body of water then the crystal formation remains the same. This lets you see through the crystal, to a certain depth.

It all depends on the crystal structure and how it forms in ice it is orderly and rigid, so it stays in that order. Ice forms slowly so the crystals have time to line up thus giving it a clear property. Snow is chaotic, just a pile of crystals and bits that clump together to form the crystal; this chaotic order blocks light making even a thin layer capable of blocking your view. However Snow is not totally opaque, if you are under less than 1’ of it in the sunlight then some of that light can penetrate, just like light can penetrate water, to a certain depth. The same is true with ice, the light can penetrate, but thanks to the order of the rigid crystals it can penetrate deeper than it can through snow, but light penetrates pure water the best.

Water is clear because it has no color. It is composed of two chemicals that have no color and are transparent, so you can see through it. When you look out on the Earth on a clear day, from a tower, you see the horizon and with the distance it will get foggy as the intervening air molecules block some of the light. If you climb a high mountain then you will see further, the air seems clearer, that’s because there is less air molecules to block your vision.

If you shine a light through a deep body of ice, or even some ice cubes made in your freezer you will see a limit where the ice seems white. The more chaotic the molecules are the less distance you will see until you see that white. Commercial Ice Machines can usually make clearer ice cubes than your freezer because it has better control on the formation of the ice (it is done slower) so the crystal structure lines up deeper in the ice cube. If you flash freeze water then you will have a white ice cube because you didn’t give the crystal structure time to line up as well, they are more chaotic like snowflakes.

Snowflakes are frozen water stacks and chaotic clumps so it is harder to see through and looks white. If you were to compress our atmosphere to pressures like you find on Jupiter you would end up with a white soup, as the concentration of the air would decrease your view. This is different than fog, which is just a very low flying cloud.

So why is ice stronger than snow? It goes back to the crystal structure again. The chaotic formed snow just doesn’t stick together well, but the rigid ice has time to form longer crystal chains and thus is stronger. When an Eskimo builds and igloo he starts with light and easy to cut and lift snow, but when the cold wind and the night time temperatures hit it then the gets hard just like ice.

Another reason why ice is stronger is because it starts at 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) and gets colder. Snow is closer to the edge of the freezing point so it can melt easier, and it doesn’t clump together as well. Of course as the temperature drops then snow begins to become harder and more like ice.

Answer 2

It's not that confusing actually.

Here's what happens when you look through ice. The light goes through the ice and strikes whatever you're looking at. Different chemicals in the thing you see absorb different parts of the light. When the light comes back through the ice and into your eyes, you see all the colors that haven't been absorbed. The ice doesn't absorb any part of the light, so it doesn't change the way things look, but it slightly bends the light's path.

Here's what happens in snow.

The light goes down and strikes the first flake. It passes through but is bent a tiny bit. It strikes the second flake, which bends it just a little bit more. This continues until the light has been completely 'turned around' and it heads into your eye without any part of it ever being absorbed. When no part of the light has been absorbed, you see it as white. That's what happens.

Answer 3

water is a clear substance, and when it freezes it is also clear. Did you ever look as a snow crystal after it had been melting for 5 days - that crystal is clear. If you put snow in water, it is also clear slush. If you take a hammer to ice, where you hit turns white. Snow appears white because the way the crystal reflects light due to its edges and snow being very fine particles of ice that reflects light to give it its white appearance.

Answer 4

it has to do with the surface. Ice is thicker, basically, and is smoother overall, which makes it clear. Snow on the other hand has a higher surface area to volume ratio (ie, it's thinner) and has a more crystal-like and uneven shape/surface. so for ice, light for the most part goes through the ice and makes it clearer. but for snow, there are many little jutting pieces that cause the light to reflect back to you and appear white.

Answer 5

Ice is frozen water. Snow is crystallized water. There is a big difference.

Answer 6

snow is clear, but all of it piled up is white! its just like a polar bear- their fur is clear, but together it makes white!

Answer 7

snow is little sheats of ice that reflect to make it seem white

Answer 8

You'll want the science forum down the hall dear.

Answer 9

Yes, but they describe different things. A color perhaps or the clarity of something.

Answer 10

Right. They're different forms. That's why they're not the same color.