Why is snow white? We will tell

The question of why the snow is white is familiar to every person since childhood. But not all children, and adults, know the right answer, for what reason small snowflakes are white, not blue or green. Everyone knows that snow is frozen water, or rather ice. But since the ice is transparent and is capable of passing light through, why are the snow drifts that cover the earth far opaque, but have a very distinct color?

In the past centuries, when there was not so advanced technology, allowing to study all natural processes, scientists struggled over the question of why the snow is white. However, the answer was never found. Only when the whole process of creating the snow from the very beginning to the end became clear, there were some conjectures about the "snow-white cover".

Everything begins with the fact that under the influence of warm sunlight, water from rivers, lakes and seas turns into steam, and rises high into the atmospheric layers, where permafrost prevails. Steam, in turn, having the properties of liquid water, because of the large negative temperature begins to freeze and turns into ice crystals. These are snowflakes, which in time are ready to fall to the ground. For the most part, in places where it is warm, ice falls in the form of wet precipitation, melting still in the air.

How the snow is formed is now clear, but why, when it falls to the ground, does it suddenly turn white?

The question is relevant, because snowflakes and the truth still in the air have the same throughput properties of light through themselves, as ice. But we should not forget one thing: the sides of the lenses are located under chaotic angles, which randomly refracts the sunlight, and they do not absorb it, but pass it on. And when the snowflakes gather in a "snow-covered blanket," the rays of the sun, refracting from one snowflake to another, pass through the entire covering. Many rays are reflected in our eyes, which is why, often when you look at the snow, you have to frown. The sunlight is too bright to perceive it with unprotected eyes.

But it is not entirely correct to ask why snow is white, because it is not always "clean." So people see it only when the rays of sunlight fall on it. For example, at sunset it can be painted in a pinkish hue, and in the light of a yellow lantern it can be slightly sand colored, as well as in cloudy weather its shade is grayish.

It is possible to change the color of the snow even in the air layers, when the snowflakes are just beginning their "earth's fall". For example, different pollen from trees and flowers, the dust from the arid land rises and meets with particles of snow in the air currents. If such snow does not have time to melt and remains a small cover, then its color will necessarily be with different shades. In these conditions, it is inappropriate to ask why the snow is white.

However, snowflakes are not just flying chaotically down ice, which for some unknown reason decided to cover the earth with a "white veil".

The main properties of snow - it's to protect the earth from the cold, covered with a thick veil. Yes, it is warm and preserve the harvest and the soil from freezing, it would seem, paradoxically, but it's true. It has a poor thermal conductivity, which allows it to contain heat from the ground, and create a "heat cushion". Not for nothing that the needle was built by the inhabitants of the far north. Ice, like snow, keeps well the heat, creating unique favorable conditions for life.

Do not lose sight of the fact that the size of snowflakes depends on the weather conditions outside the window. If it's cold enough, then the ice cubes are small, almost invisible. And if the sun is shining and the air is not so cold, then the dimensions of the snowflake can reach several centimeters. So, in 1944 in Moscow ten-centimeter "grains of ice" fell out.