Why is it that the ocean is blue?

Answer 1

ocean colorThe ocean's color has two causes: water is a blue chemical, but also the water's surface is very smooth and reflective.

If you gaze downward into deep water, reflections are minimized and you can see the water's true color. Water is a blue material, or in other words it absorbs the red end of the color spectrum and transmits the blue end. If water had no color, then lakes and oceans would be grey or black.

The color of water is not fixed. Shallow water appears turquoise, while deep water appears blue/black. This happens because water transmits green light better than red, and blue light better than green. Shallow water transmits some green light but more blue light, so it appears turquoise. Deep water only transmits a small amount of blue light, so it appears blue-black.

Water is also shiny. If you stand on the shore and look at the ocean in the distance, then all you will see is the reflection of the sky. During sunset, the distant ocean will appear red. This occurs because whenever light reflects from water at a low and "glancing" angle, nearly all of the light is reflected. The water behaves as a mirror, and reflected colors wipe out the water's own color. This reflection is not the color of the water. For example, if a shiny red automobile reflects the blue sky, then the car is still red, and only the reflections are blue. And this shows us another way to see the true color of water: just look at the ocean when the surface is rough and not shiny. When the ocean is rough and covered with waves, then the sky-reflections are mostly gone, and we can see the water's color.

See also:

Idea.org: Causes of Color

http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/5.html

Journal of Chem. Edu. 1993: Why is water blue?

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~etrnsfer/water.htm

LSB University: Water absorption spectrum

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/vibrat.html

THE REFECTION OF THE SKY

Answer 2

Water IS clear, but it absorbs infared waves, because they resonate to the frequencies of infared. Water molecules absorb red-colored frequencies from sunlight. When red is absorbed, the complementary color of red is left, which is cyan, a greenish-blue color. But an actual glass of water is clear, because water HAS no color.

Hope that helps! :)

Answer 3

The reflected light that hashit the ocean has more blue than any other color.

There are other things too, such as the effect of reflecting the blue of thesky.

For the green color, it could be because of the algae or the pollution.

Answer 4

It is primarily because water absorbs the light at the red end of the spectrum. Thus you see the blue, because blue is reflected.

It is not because of the sky. Though it does deepen the blue colour of the water, it is not the cause.

Answer 5

It reflects off the sky. And also because blue is the color that travels the farthest and in the big huge thing of water, that's the only color that shows up.

Answer 6

Light is basically just a bunch of colors, and the oceanwater least absorbs the blue part of light.

There's a lot more to it than that, but that's the basic idea.

Answer 7

ion of the sun/sky and the depth of the water

Answer 8

The blue colour of the sea - is a reflection of the sky. In dull weather - the see looks grey - almost black.

Answer 9

the blue sky reflects on it