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January 9, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN
RI
Here's a good version of the answer from Down Under, where
the sky and sea are usually bluer than in New England (because
the sun shines more):
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb98/887691022.Bc.r.html
Basically, the air (sky) and water (sea, lakes) scatter light,
and blue light is scattered more than other visible colors,
so we see the sky and sea as blue. The small amount of (transparent)
water in a glass doesn't scatter enough light for us to be
aware that it, too, must be scattering more blue than red.
(Hmmm, I wonder how big a container of water you'd need to
see scattered blue light? What abouat shining a bright white
light sideways through a glass container of water?) In addition,
the sea reflects the color of the sky and looks blue when
the sky is blue; on a cloudy day it may not look blue at all
(unless you're swimming under the surface).
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A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON
IN IL
Susan,
Good question. I looked online since I didn't know either.
The first web site
is a little more complicated. The next less so and the last
seems to be easiest
to understand. Check them out. The first two have beautiful
pictures of a lake
found in Oregon, Crater Lake.
Kristin Taghon
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~etrnsfer/water.htm
http://www.serc.si.edu/water_quality/water_quality_html/water.htm
http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/5.html
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