Is the sky blue because it reflects off the ocean?

Answer 1

No. The physics is based in the way light is scattered in the air, and it is discussed in the question, "Why is the sky blue?" That question is linked below. AnswerIf that were true, there wouldn't be any blue skies in Kansas. And there are!

Actually, the coloring in the sky that you observe is a result of light rays being scattered by air and anything in it. The rays of light with the longer wavelengths, such as reds and yellows, tend to travel more easily through the atmosphere, while the rays with the shorter wavelengths, like blues and indigos, tend to be dispersed more easily. These more easily dispersed shorter light rays are what give the sky its blue color.

The color emitted by the refraction of gasses in the atmosphere is what causes the sky to be the color it appears. The protective ozone layer which is thicker in some places than it is in others, reflects blue when exposed to the suns radiation. So ozone gas expressed as O3 is responsible in large part to the blue sky. The dust particles mentioned in the previous paragraph are responsible for the various hues and colors we see such as the red sunsets.

This effect is known as Rayleigh scattering named after the scientist who discovered it , Lord Rayleigh

Answer 2

Yes, because the atmosphere is naturally blue, the sky reflects off of the water and makes it look blue. most people think the sky is blue because it's a reflection of the water. but it's not because when water's in a glass, it's clear not blue.

Answer 3

The sky appears to be blue because the wavelength of blue light is most easily scattered by the molecules of the atmosphere. Light of shorter wavelengths (ultraviolet, for example) tends to bounce back into space, while longer-wavelength light (red, yellow, orange, etc), being less energetic than blue, is overwhelmed by the high-energy blue light. The ocean reflects the apparent colour of the atmosphere.

Answer 4

Answer:

A bit of background: The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours of the spectrum. Each colour of light ahas a wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges from red light (wavelength =720 nm), to violet (wavelength =380 nm), with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The human eye reacts most strongly to strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths. This gives us colour vision.

The explanation: Light passing through a clear fluid with suspended particles is scattered. Some wavelengths like blue are scattered more strongly. The first person to notice this and experiment with it was John Tyndall in 1859. So he got to name the effect the Tyndall Effect. He made three important observations:

• From the side, (the way we see most of the sunlight in the sky) the beam can be seen by the blue light it scatters
• The light seen directly at the end (looking towards the source) is red. This is the way we see the sunlight at sunset
• The scattered light is polarized. This is why polarized sun glasses make some parts of the sky seem darker.

Some early researchers (Tyndall and Rayleigh) thought that the blue colour of the sky must be due to small particles of dust and droplets of water vapour in the sky. Later scientist discounted this and proposed that oxygen and nitrogen molecules are the cause of the scattering.

In 1911 Einstein did the math to prove that the molecules could cause the scattering. Technically the molecules scatter light because the electromagnetic field of the light waves induces electric dipole moments in the O2 and N2 molecules.

Answer 5

The sky is blue because of the blue wavelengths (in light) being absorbed and reflected by the particulates in the atmosphere. These are scattered throughout the sky making a uniformly colored sky. Various things on the planet are colored what they are because of what wavelength they reflect. Nothing would have color with the absence of reflection of light. (Or light in general) Wavelength size: Smallest to Biggest: UV, Visual, Infared, Far Infared Visual is the light humans are able to see. Thus, we are able to see colors.

Answer 6

The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. The the shorter wavelengths (blue) in the white light from Sunlight are absorbed by the gas molecules in the air. 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 and you see the blue light from everywhere overhead making the sky look blue.

The same principle makes the sea look blue.

At sunset the light must travel farther through the atmosphere before it gets to you. More of the blue light is reflected and scattered and the only the longer wavelengths (red) are left in the direct beam that reaches your eyes, making the setting sun red.

Answer 7

During a clear day, the sky is blue, not because of the ocean, but because of the atmosphere. All molecules affect light in some way, and the ones far away high up in the atmosphere grab and scatter blue light more than red. This is also why sunsets make the sky red, because at that point the blue light is scattered up and away from line of sight, while the red is now more prominent.

Answer 8

no but the ocean reflects the sky that's where it gets its blue color.