why powdered things appear white until mixed with a liquid

Question

my drink mix always looks white until i dump it into my bottle, then it turns red. why is that?

In: 0

Answer 1

Powdered things look white because it means there are tons of tiny particles with surfaces at random angles where light diffracts creating diffuse reflection. The reason it’s white and not colored is likely the result of the powder being largely colorless substances like sugar with only a minor part of pigment but once everything is dissolved in water there are no longer diffracting surfaces only the pigment causing the water to turn red.