Water

[mike.wood]

Is water invisible?

[:Ace:]

Simply, No, Have you seen the sea recently? Yes

[don1]

If you couldn't see it how would you know where to go for a paddle?

[boobesque]

and how would you know if your glass was full?

[Space]

are you blind ?

[Chipshopfat]

No. You can see water because it reflects off things, i think. But you can see it anyway, as you know.

[ll_billym]

For something to be invisible it has to let all light pass through it.

Water doesn't, you can tell this because it reflects and also that it is dark at the bottom of the sea.

[heathfield]

Dehydrated water is.

[brachiopod]

It also refracts light, which lets the eye perceive its presence.

Water is clear and colourless, but not invisible.

[pagey]

If it is pure, it is near transparent. Whether or not it is invisible is debateable. For the sake of being contrary and fuelling debate, I will say it IS invisible, but the effects of its surfaces, caused by the change in refractive index between the water and adjoining medium are NOT.

Hot air is invisible, would you agree? Yet you can 'see' it when you observe distortions caused by it mixing with cooler air.

[pagey]

Example - if you are underwater and open your eyes you can't see the water, hence it is invisible. What do you think?

[ll_billym]

Yeah pagey it's a tough one to call really, I nearly said it was invisible but then decided not to, not because of any scientific reasons about the properties of water, but because of the definition of the word "invisible".

Scientifically it is pretty much invisible but when it comes down to semantics it is not invisible.

I still maintain that it is dark at the bottom of the sea though. :-)

[stevie"stan"]

I think the answer is yes AND no. For instance last night my wife put a glass of water by the side of the bed and it was clearly visible.

This morning, however it had mysteriously disappeared. Intrigue of the highest magnitude, wouldn't you agree?

[CT]

Water is transparent at optical wavelengths, hence you can see things through and in the water. As above, you can see the water due to the effect of refraction, which changes the brightness of the light in different parts of the water.

[Chipshopfat]

Look, the best explanation is you can simply see water. Damnit!

[jason1980]

Is water invisible...

its like asking if the glass you drink it from is too...

[jason1980]

Water is made up of molecules, it would only be invisible if those molecules didn't exist or weren't present. Then there'd be no water - rather than invisible.

Something invisible simply doesn't exist

[ll_billym]

Saying that nothing invisible exists is just silly.

What about nuclear radiation? Clear gases? Electricity? Etc.Etc.

[ll_billym]

Take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum and see what a minute part of it is actually visible.

[kendo2]

Clear water is a "translusant" substance. Not "invisable".As is clear ice,clear glass,clear perspex. Radiation,sound, etc.are invisable but not a substance.

[nav1998]

no the water is not invisisible its transparent!