Verified Solution Science The Human Eye and the Colourful World

Why do clouds generally appear white?

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Answer

Clouds generally appear white because they are composed of a large number of tiny water droplets and/or ice crystals of varying sizes. These particles are much larger than the wavelength of visible light. When sunlight (which is white) falls on these particles, all the wavelengths (colours) of light are scattered almost equally. Since all colours are scattered equally and reach our eyes, the scattered light recombines to appear white.

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