Monday, 26 May 2014

Why are rain clouds dark?

Rain is water. Water is light in colour. Rain clouds are full of water. Therefore, rain clouds should be light. Impeccable logic, but wrong. Obviously, there are always water particles in cloud. But when the particles of water are small, they reflect light and are perceived as white. When water particles become large enough to form raindrops, however, they absorb light and appear dark to us below.

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