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Scattering: Green water

           

Did you ever wonder why the water in Hawaii was so green?  From an airplane window, you can see that the ocean surrounding Hawaii is blue, and then at a certain point the water closer to the island itself becomes green.  This can also be explained by scattering.  The ocean appears to be blue in the first place because water is made up of many little particles.  These particles scatter the Light, of which blue Light is scattered the most, and is reflected back as blue.  But Hawaii is surrounded by coral.  The Light, which reflects back to us from the ocean, combines with the Light reflected by the coral to create a green appearance.

 

The Optics Course

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7

Spectrum
Scattering
Green water
Fog Lights
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11

Readings
More readings
and more

Introduction 1 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 3 - Lesson 4 - Lesson 5 - Lesson 6 - Lesson 7 - Lesson 8 - Lesson 9 - Lesson 10 - Lesson 11

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