人們常用“蔚藍色”來形容一望無際的大海，藍色似乎是天空和海洋的專屬顏色，這是為什么呢？世界上不是還有黑海、紅海嗎？這又是怎么回事呢？原來，這些顏色變化都跟物理學上的“反射作用”有關系。

    Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Some of the sunlight is reflected off the surface of the water, reflecting the color of the sky. Some of the sunlight penetrates the water and is scattered by ripples and particles in the water (this tinges the appearance of the ocean with the color of the particles). In deep water, much of the sunlight is scattered by the oxygen in the water, and this scatters more of the blue light.

    Water absorbs more of the red light in sunlight; the water also enhances the scattering of blue light. Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman (an Indian physicist) won the Nobel Prize in 1930 for his work on light.

    Some Oddly-Colored Seas:

    The Red Sea often looks red because of red algae that live in this sea.

    The Black Sea looks almost black because it has a high concentration of hydrogen sulfide (which appears black).

    ripple: 波紋

    particle: 粒子

    algae: 藻類，海藻

    hydrogen sulfide: 氫硫化物