My wife gave birth to a philosopher. If you come up with an experiment I can show my 6-year-old son I’d appreciate it.
In: Earth Science
There’s a very separate issue of the ocean’s surface reflecting the sky’s colors back to our eyes as we watch from the surface. On blue-sky days, the ocean surface looks bluer; on gray-sky days, grayer. The ocean surface boundary with the air is the cause of that, optically. For example, when the ocean dances with gold and red colors at sunset.
Independent of that, Liquid water absorbs slightly more of the other colors, compared to [absorbing not as much bluish light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Absorption_spectrum_of_liquid_water.png).
But still, the total amount of light absorbed is a very tiny amount! A small amount of water barely absorbs any, so it seems clear.
*Deeper water has more chances to absorb passing light. That’s why divers are surrounded by more bluish light as they dive deeper.*
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Here’s a wonderful experiment for a kid, for a vivid look at light absorption in a bulk liquid, to imagine what a diver sees: use a small amount of food coloring or a colored artificial drink in two identical clear glass cups.
In one cup, put just enough liquid to spread out on the bottom. In the other cup, fill it up! Visually compare the vividness of the colors. The thin layer will look almost clear.
If the sun is shining, go outside and compare the colors cast upon a white surface on the “shadow” side. Recheck the emptier cup’s colors, each time you add a bit more liquid.
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