# The white in snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532 "2012-08-05T18:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Commander\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Commander\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/1 "2012-08-05T18:41:08Z")
Hi, where does the white go when snow melts? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/2 "2012-08-05T18:50:37Z")
it gets diluted to the point of becoming clear. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/3 "2012-08-05T18:54:40Z")
Into the clouds, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/4 "2012-08-05T18:56:19Z")
Snow looks white for the same reason most powdered materials (such as salt and sugar) look white; light is reflecting off the individual crystals (see a more detailed description [here](http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/question524.htm)). Note that ice itself is clear (unless there are air bubbles in it), so snow isn’t the color of ice; the same is true if you melt sugar crystals. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/5 "2012-08-05T18:57:49Z")
Did you know that no two people ever see the same rainbow? That’s because rainbows don’t exist as an object. They are the sum total of gazillions of individual diffractions that form a cone with your eye in the center. The drops may be at different distances but the total effect is put together by your individual brain to create the colors. Since no two eyes are ever in the same physical place, no two people can ever see the same rainbow. Color is mere reflection of light. In some substances certain wavelengths are absorbed and others reflected. In some all wavelengths are absorbed resulting in blackness. In others all wavelengths are reflected resulting in whiteness. A liquid or gaseous molecule of water will reflect and absorb wavelengths differently than a solid molecule of water. IOW, color isn’t a property: it’s a process. This is all assuming that your question was serious. If not, then the white goes to the same place your lap goes when you stand up. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/6 "2012-08-05T19:15:16Z")
You mean no two people can ever see the same rainbow at the same time. Clearly, it’s possible for me stand at point X and observe a rainbow, and then step aside so someone else can stand at point X and observe the same rainbow. That is, if by “point X” we mean simply a point in physical space. If by “point X” we mean a point in space-time, that changes everything. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Commander\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/7 "2012-08-05T19:18:02Z")
Wow, you guys are a literal-minded bunch - I was just kidding, _obviously_ (well, obvious to me anyway…😉 Btw, wasn’t Exapno Mapcase Harpo Marx’s codename/alias when he visited Russia? I seem to remember that from ‘Harpo Speaks’. No kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/8 "2012-08-05T19:23:47Z")
> [@Commander\_Cool](#): > > Wow, you guys are a literal-minded bunch - I was just kidding, _obviously_ (well, obvious to me anyway..😉 > > Btw, wasn’t Exapno Mapcase Harpo Marx’s codename/alias when he visited Russia? I seem to remember that from ‘Harpo Speaks’. No kidding. Yes - it’s based on what “Harpo Marx” looks like in the Cyrillic alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/9 "2012-08-05T19:24:44Z")
> [@Commander\_Cool](#): > > Btw, wasn’t Exapno Mapcase Harpo Marx’s codename/alias when he visited Russia? I seem to remember that from ‘Harpo Speaks’. No kidding. Harpo’s name in Russian – not really a codename or alias, but how it looks in Cyrillic – is [Харпо Маркс](http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%81,_%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BF%D0%BE), which looks a bit like “Exapno Mapcase”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/10 "2012-08-05T19:35:58Z")
> [@Commander\_Cool](#): > > Wow, you guys are a literal-minded bunch - I was just kidding, _obviously_ (well, obvious to me anyway..😉 [Moderator Note] Yes, I think it was obvious to everyone that you weren’t serious. However, this forum is reserved for serious questions, so people tend to answer even silly questions seriously. If you want to kid around, the place for that is our MPSIMS forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Commander\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/11 "2012-08-05T19:39:53Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Harpo’s name in Russian – not really a codename or alias, but how it looks in Cyrillic…a bit like “Exapno Mapcase”. Yes, it all comes back to me now. Great book by the way. Great book by a great man. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Commander\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/12 "2012-08-05T19:42:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Moderator Note] > > Yes, I think it was obvious to everyone that you weren’t serious. However, this forum is reserved for serious questions, so people tend to answer even silly questions seriously. If you want to kid around, the place for that is our MPSIMS forum. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Oh, lighten up for chrissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/13 "2012-08-05T19:50:19Z")
> [@Commander\_Cool](#): > > Wow, you guys are a literal-minded bunch - I was just kidding, _obviously_ (well, obvious to me anyway..😉 Of course we knew that. This is us being wiseasses - by answering a joke question with a serious answer. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-white-in-snow/630532/14 "2012-08-05T19:58:24Z")
> [@Commander\_Cool](#): > > Oh, lighten up for chrissakes. [Moderator Note] **Commander Cool** , you’re new here. Part of my job is to explain the rules to newbies. This is not a matter of “lightening up,” this is about abiding by the site rules that you agreed to when you registered. It’s OK to ask joking questions, as long as you do it in the right forum, which is MPSIMS. But to be clear, don’t ask joke questions in GQ again. Since you’ve made it clear you were joking, I’m going to close this. Colibri General Questions Moderator