How come when da clouds have lots of water it turns gray or black?

Answer 1

because its not just water-there's also dust or dirt particles that collect

Answer 2

The less water there is a cloud, the whiter it will be on a sunny day. The reason is because most of the light from the sun will travel through the water droplets in the cloud. Heavy clouds (thunder clouds), or ones with a higher density of water will have more water droplets for the sun light to pass through. Thus most of the light from the sun will be reflected back into the atmosphere and some will be absorbed by the water droplets. So if you look at the thunder cloud from underneath (i.e. the ground), it will be darker...more in the gray side. But if you look at the thunder cloud from above it, that is on an airplane (with the sun shinning on that day)...you will see that it is white. White because the sunlight is being reflected back.

Answer 3

Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals, usually a mixture of both. The water and ice scatter all light, making clouds appear white. If the clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does not make it through, hence the gray or dark look. Also, if there are lots of other clouds around, their shadow can add to the gray or multicolored gray appearance.

Source:http://www.weatherwizkids.com/cloud.htm

Answer 4

"da clouds"???

Dense deep clouds exhibit a high reflectance (70% to 95%) throughout the visible range of wavelengths: they thus appear white, at least from the top. Cloud droplets tend to scatter light efficiently, so that the intensity of the solar radiation decreases with depth into the cloud, hence the gray or even sometimes dark appearance of the clouds at their base. Thin clouds may appear to have acquired the color of their environment or background, and clouds illuminated by non-white light, such as during sunrise or sunset, may be colored accordingly. In the near-infrared range, clouds would appear darker because the water that constitutes the cloud droplets strongly absorbs solar radiation at those wavelengths.

Answer 5

The thicker a cloud is, the more it blocks sunlight. So clouds will always look darker on the side away from the sun. This is the bottom in most cases. If you could get on the top side of those clouds that look dark to you, they would be white and fluffy. There the sunlight is being reflected back to your eyes and not blocked or absorbed by anything in between.

Answer 6

Because the cloud density increases because if all the water trapped within the cloud causing the cloud to become thicker making the light not go through the cloud as easily.

Answer 7

cause there are 2 points in the cloud

Answer 8

that has mostly to do with the concentration of the cloud. since a cloud is a gas when it is condenced it gets thicker. and then it changes the refraction of light through it.

Answer 9

The same reason its pitch black 1000 feet below the ocean, the light becomes scattered and absorbed

Answer 10

Because they have vertical growth and are therefore thicker and block out the sun more than other clouds.

Answer 11

Because the color comes from light shining through the clouds and as they become less transparent, they become darker!