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The ocean looks blue or aqua in color...but if you have a glass full of the water it's clear..Why is this?

I don't think it's the reflection of the sky..because the sky isn't aqua.Can you help me understand this?

3 Answers

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  • 9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    While relatively small quantities of water are observed by humans to be colourless, pure water has a slight blue tinge that becomes a deeper blue as the thickness of the observed sample increases. The blue hue of water is an intrinsic property and is caused by selective absorption and scattering of white light. Impurities dissolved or suspended in water may give water different colored appearance.

    Source(s): Slightly altered version from wikipedia - Good question though, made me think twice
  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    Yes, I cn.

    Actually, the sky technically IS aquamarine. It's just a more blue than green aquamarine color to most people.

    Here's an excellent interactive sight where you can play with mixing colors for awhile:

    http://www.colorcube.com/play/paintbox/paintbox.ht...

    Bodies of water, from small ponds to the oceans DO reflect the color s of the sky that is above them. Sometimes the water has sediments, microorganisms, or chemicals in it that change the color of the water. The water in properly maintained swimming pools is blue because chemicals have been added to it on purpose.

    http://lauraspector.hubpages.com/hub/Color-Theory-...

  • 9 years ago

    It is partially the sky's reflection, but it's also everything in the ocean. There's a lot of minerals and fish and seaweed in the ocean that you obviously wouldn't find in a glass of water that probably have something to do with it.

    Source(s): memory
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