Since we are born we get used to observing certain characteristics of the planet that, due to habit, later go unnoticed. However, a little curiosity is enough to question the cause of what we observe: why is the sky blue? Or why are clouds white? These are excellent questions that certainly have a clear answer.
What color are the clouds?
The sky usually has a bluish color that characterizes it, but if it is flooded with clouds then these give it its pristine white color. Therefore, we can say that clouds are white, but why do they get this coloration? The answer is very simple; The clouds are white because the light that comes from the Sun is white.
When the light arriving from our host star passes through the clouds, it interacts with the droplets that make it up. The droplets that make up clouds are usually much larger than the atmospheric particles that abound in the sky.
In the case of the spray microparticles that make up the , if sunlight passes through them, due to their size, blue light is dispersed more strongly than other colors. This is why without the presence of clouds, it seems that the sky is blue, but the issue changes when there are cloud formations.
In a cloud, light interacts differently because the size of the droplets that make it up are much larger. These natural aqueous prisms disperse almost all colors of light to the same magnitude, which means that the amount of light passing through the clouds remains white and also gives them their whitish appearance in contrast to the blue sky.
Sometimes they turn gray
Although the most amazing landscapes include pristine white cotton clouds, the reality is that there are times when they are not exactly this color. There are other occasions where the momentum of the sky is almost tangible when the clouds turn gray. Thanks to observation, we know that one is coming, but why do they turn this color?
Light scattering is again the answer, except under different conditions. When light is scattered through clouds, it is usually sent upward or sideways, making the top and sides of the cloud whiter than the base, which receives the least light. .
The same thing happens with storm clouds, however, they are so loaded with droplets that it can only mean one thing: less light reaches the bottom of the clouds, giving them their impetuous appearance. We must also think that our perspective of the matter is important in this, since we almost always only see the lower part of the clouds due to our position on dry land. But if you could observe storm clouds from an airplane, you would still see them white because you are observing the upper part, which is the one that receives the most light, however, a simultaneous observer on land would see a huge grayish cloud.