this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2025
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[–] CobblerScholar@lemmy.world 49 points 1 day ago (3 children)

For anyone who wants to know the real answer. Unfiltered sunlight is white in appearance covering the full visual light spectrum. Once this light hits the atmosphere higher frequencies such as violet and blue are scattered as the lower frequencies pass through making the sun appear yellow. Most of the light still makes it through the first pass however so most of the full spectrum still passes through is reflected again by the earths surface. Once this bounced light hits the atmosphere again on the underside the higher frequencies are again scattered letting lower frequencies pass making the sky appear blue. Of the light that hits the plants leaves green light is reflected while everything else is absorbed making the leaf appear green.

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't think it's pure white. Given the type of our star I remember reading it's actually yellow with a hint of green.

[–] OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network 2 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

It peaks in yellow/green, but its not a ton more yellow than the rest of the visible spectrum so its still very white, the yellow appearance from earth's surface is still more due to atmospheric filtering than the actual spectrum its emitting.

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

but WHY do plants reflect green light instead of any other color? you skipped the most important part!

[–] faythofdragons@slrpnk.net 37 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Because the way chlorophyll is shaped at a molecular level, it acts like a filter. It lets red and blue light pass, but reflects green light.

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 49 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You might be thinking, well wouldn't it it better to absorb green too? Why didn't chlorophyll evolve to absorb all colors, making plants black? The answer is because evolution don't give a damn about the best way to do things, only the good enough way. Chlorophyll developed by random chance, and blue-green algea (with chlorophyll) beat red algae (with phycoerythrin) to evolving into complex plant structures.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Some plants do have black leaves

[–] Pandantic@midwest.social 11 points 1 day ago

And red leaves

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yeah, but not due to photosynthesizing pigments, afaik. Only other pigmentation in the leaf. Though it may still be an adaptive benefit.

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

Most of these are probably under growth. Much of the light gets filtered by the time it gets to them and they evolved to maximize the remainder.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

Warmer leaf may increase photosynthesis rate

[–] MotoAsh@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sunlight is actually mostly green/blue, more green at the surface. It just appears white because that's what we're used to and the difference in intensity isn't that much for visible light anyways.

See https://seos-project.eu/earthspectra/images/Solar-spectrum.png

Rest checks out as far as I remember! Though the wording about the scattering is a bit loose. More specific details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffuse_sky_radiation

[–] normalexit@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Chlorophyll, more like bore-aphyll.

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 51 points 1 day ago (3 children)

No, it's because money is green and money is the root of all evil so since plants have roots, plants are also green. Except for all the myriad different species and cultivars that aren't green at all, they ain't got no money. They ain't got no car to take you on a date. Tthey can't even buy you flowers.

[–] GreatRam@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

But money doesn't grow on trees

[–] illi@piefed.social 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

But great number of money is paper. So...

[–] lagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

So... paper... is like, uhh, the root? The root of the evil?

[–] illi@piefed.social 2 points 18 hours ago

Trunk of all evil maybe? Branch of all evil?

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Money isn't green everywhere in the world. Where I live, 100 euro bills are green, but all other bills are completely different colors.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

100 AUD is green too

[–] No1@aussie.zone 5 points 1 day ago

That's interesting. I wonder how it may be related to the water system. Eg waterfalls.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Oh sure, complain about it, but don't explain what's wrong. Sounds like science to me. Blue, yellow, green, plants, it all makes sense. If you can't explain it so a five-year-old can understand it, then you don't really understand it.

/s

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're also not including brown, from the soil they get their nutrients from! :(

[–] SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Brown is how you get red leaf plants. Brown is just red and green mixed after all, so you take out the green for other stuff the plant needs and are left with red.

It’s all totally on the up and up.

[–] Pandantic@midwest.social 1 points 1 day ago

That’s why a lot of fruits are red - that’s where the plant puts its red from its brown (dirt) so it can stay green! Science is fucking magical.

[–] Beacon@fedia.io 18 points 1 day ago

It's not almost right.

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Actually, they just hate green so they refuse to absorb it, they're saying "hey green light, get the fuck out of here!"

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Thats how all colours work though.

Edit: and as I post that, and edit this, I'm realizing more and more that isn't remotely true.

It's how many colours work.

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Black loves all and absorbs all. White rejects all light.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

This is to science what homeopathy is to medicine.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I don't understand how anyone could think that the sun is yellow, without questioning why they're able to see other colors in daylight besides yellow. It's like they don't even have the most basic understanding of how light and color work. It is impossible for the sun to be any color other than white, otherwise other colors wouldn't exist.

[–] electricyarn@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

It does look yellowish though

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It do look quite yellow though.

[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's because it's going through atmosphere. Your seeing it with a bunch of blue wavelengths scattered by the atmosphere (take note of the blue sky).

Making the sun, when viewed directly, have a yellowish tint.

It's still white.

[–] CannonFodder@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

If it's yellowish, then it's yellowish, not white - if we're talking what can be spectrographically measured. If we're talking about perception then it gets rather interesting with the way our eyes/brain compensate for light sources - see white balance on cameras, or that green/gold/blue/white dress controversy.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sorry chief, most people dont have any understanding of how light and color work.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 8 points 1 day ago

Or anything else for that matter

[–] elevenbones@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

looks yellow to me get your eyes checked

[–] Jumbie@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

No it’s Becky.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

[This conversation isn't worth it; leave my inbox alone now, please]

[–] elevenbones@sh.itjust.works 1 points 22 hours ago

yah, duh. Still looks yeller.

[–] douglasg14b@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The fact that you're down voted really speaks to the level of scientific illiteracy here

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

I think because it's a joke and you both got whoooshed

[–] guismo@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago

Nope, it's because of the "common sense" as in "everyone who doesn't know what I know is stupid".

From talking to other people, I believe my knowledge of colors and light is considerably higher than normal, but I would never think someone lacks "common sense" (which reads to me that they are stupid) for not knowing these things.

In fact when I show people how some colors are not visibly reflected on different wavelengths, and they seem interested, it makes me happy. I don't expect them to know that, but the fact that they are curious and interested shows they are willing to learn, and that is nice.

But comments like these makes people not want to learn.