# snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099 "2009-11-10T21:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FISHLIPSJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@FISHLIPSJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FISHLIPSJ)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/1 "2009-11-10T21:44:52Z")
When the snow melts, where does the white go? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/2 "2009-11-10T21:52:57Z")
The white is merely light reflected in a particular way from the structure of the snow. If the structure changes, the reflections also change. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/3 "2009-11-10T23:21:50Z")
You gonna listen to a guy named **Exapno Mapcase**? The white evaporates and condenses into clouds. That’s why clouds are white. Dark clouds come from dirty snow. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/4 "2009-11-11T04:09:20Z")
Never look up when a yellow cloud is raining. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/5 "2009-11-11T04:53:56Z")
Along the same lines … polar bear hair is really [transparent.](http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/polarbear.html) ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/6 "2009-11-11T05:08:58Z")
Is there anything other than an incandescent bulb that is really white rather than transparent with scattering? ---
**Author:** ![rockypg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@rockypg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockypg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/7 "2009-11-11T08:39:52Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Is there anything other than an incandescent bulb that is really white rather than transparent with scattering? a mirror showing an incandescent bulb. What! its not scattering! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![rockypg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@rockypg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockypg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/8 "2009-11-11T08:52:16Z")
> [@FISHLIPSJ](#): > > When the snow melts, where does the white go? Also, why is snow white when ice is clear? Also, why is graphite black when diamonds are clear? Though snow, ice and water are the same material composition wise, they differ structure wise. Ice is one large crystal (usually with some deformations and air pockets) where as snow is composed of several tiny crystals bunched together. Single crystals of ice let light through at most angles with a little refraction. But when you have several crystals bunched together, light gets twisted and turns in each crystal differently and is often sent back towards the source in a phenomenon is known as scattering or diffuse reflection which gives snow its white color. > **[Scattering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_scattering)** > > In physics, scattering is a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiation) in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of reflected radiation from the angle predicted by the law of reflection. Reflections of radiation that undergo scattering are often called diffuse reflections an... Melted snow or water behaves very similar to a single ice crystal, letting light through, thus becoming transparent or clear. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snow/517099/9 "2009-11-11T13:59:41Z")
**FISHLIPSJ:** Now, apply what you have learned and answer this: \*Why do clothes look darker when wet? \* \*And where does the dark color go when the clothes dry? \*