The letters CHEMISTRY were spray painted in blue paint on the snow. After a while the sun comes out and the snow under the blue paint melts while the snow around the letters do not. Why did the snow under (rather than around) the blue paint melt?

The snow AROUND the pair, being white, reflected more of the sunlight (the heat of it anyway)--said another way the blue paint absorbed more of the heat from the sun than the surrounding area. Voila, more heat means more melted snow.

The snow under the blue paint melted because the blue color absorbs more sunlight compared to the surrounding snow. This is due to the color's absorbance property. When sunlight hits an object, some of the light is absorbed, and some is reflected. The absorbed light energy is converted into heat.

In this case, the blue color of the spray paint is absorbing a significant amount of sunlight, while the white color of the surrounding snow reflects most of it. As a result, the heat generated by the absorbed sunlight causes the snow under the blue paint to melt, while the cooler temperatures and reflective properties of the surrounding snow prevent it from melting.

So, the differential melting of the snow under the blue paint is primarily due to the varying ability of the colors to absorb sunlight and convert it into heat.

The snow under the blue paint melted because of the heat absorption properties of the color blue. When sunlight hits an object, it is either absorbed, reflected, or transmitted. Different colors have different abilities to absorb or reflect light.

In this case, blue paint appears blue because it selectively absorbs most of the visible light spectrum and reflects predominantly blue light. The blue paint on the snow absorbs a significant amount of sunlight, converting the light energy into heat. This heat is then transferred to the snow underneath, causing it to melt.

On the other hand, the snow around the blue paint does not receive as much direct sunlight because it is partially blocked by the height and position of the letters. As a result, it does not experience the same level of heat absorption as the snow under the blue paint, and therefore does not melt as quickly.

To summarize, the blue paint absorbs more sunlight due to its color, converting the light energy into heat and causing the snow underneath to melt while the rest of the surrounding snow remains intact.