Why are Clouds WHITE?

As explained in "Why do we have blue skies", white light from the sun
consists of all the colors of the rainbow. Since light travels as waves of
different lengths, each color has its very own unique wavelength.
n much the same way as why skies are blue, clouds are white because
their water droplets or ice crystals are large enough to scatter the light
of the seven wavelengths !red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
and violet", which combine to produce white light. #louds will appear dark
or gray when either they are in another clouds shadow or the top of a
cloud casts a shadow upon its own base.
$he darkness of a cloud also depends on the background sky. A cloud will
look darker when it is surrounded by a bright sky and lighter when it is in
front of darker ones. %ot always will a dark cloud mean rain.
&ore often, the reason we experience dark rainy days is because clouds
are blocking the sunlight. Some of the whitest, most pure light can be
observed when dark clouds "break apart" and sunlight filters through.
Source' http'((sci.odu.edu(sci(Scire()*+dition(whitecloud.html
$he whiteness of the clouds is due to
light of all colors being dispersed by
the water(ice of the clouds. #louds
quite a distance away appear yellow
due to the blue wavelengths being
dispered more than the yellow and red
wavelengths by the air and particles in
the air !the ,clear, sky is blue-"
%ot all clouds are pure white,
however, for those that are white, it is due to their altitude and the
reflection of sunlight.
.or example, a cirrus cloud has an altitude of approximately /km above
sea level. At such extreme altitudes all high0level clouds are made up only
of ice crystals, as the water vapor from which they are initially formed
has fro1en.
$he ice crystals reflect sunlight. When flying above clouds during the
day, they are always bright white. When we get dark clouds, they are so
thick that they soak up most of the sunlight or reflect it upwards, and so
things aren,t as bright below. Storm clouds are the thickest clouds, and
look the darkest from down below, though they still look bright white if
we see them from above.
2ray color of the clouds is caused by higher clouds casting their shadow
on lower0based clouds, or that the clouds are so dense that their top
parts absorb most of the sunlight, casting their own shadow along their
base, making them dark on the bottom.
Source' http'((wiki.answers.com(3(Why4are4clouds4white
#louds appear white because the light coming from the sun has to pass
through the water droplets and ice crystals or we can say that the seven
colors of visible spectrum !red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet"
which when combines forms white light and this process of combining is
done by water droplets or ice crystals present in the clouds. 5n the whole
we can say that light is reflected in many ways which combines to give
white color. &ainly clouds at a high altitude appear white and at that
height water vapors are fro1en and changed in ice crystals.
&any times cloud also appears dark in color it is mainly because of its
altitude and reflection of sunlight. Storms clouds are thickest clouds. So
when sunlight falls on them from above they soak the light altogether and
very negligible light reaches to our eyes which give dark color to the
clouds when we look at them from bottom but if we observe the same
clouds from above they will be pure white.
2rey clouds are caused because of the shadow of higher clouds on the
lower clouds or the clouds are sometimes so dense that they cast their
own shadow on the base which gives them grey color. 6ark clouds not
always cause rain. &ore the droplets formed in the clouds more is the
light absorbed in it. 6uring sunset clouds are orange or red because blue
color of sunlight is scattered and light has to pass through thick layer of
atmosphere and dust particles when sun is lowered in the west.
Sometimes a cloud appears blue due to the scattered blue light which
makes the sky look blue.
$he most unusual color is green. When reddish light falls on the cloud
having large amount of water droplets make them look green.
Source' http'((www.letusfindout.com(why0are0clouds0white(
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