49 replies to this topic

[chaddeus]

Interesting piece of info that the fur is clear. . . I still wonder why they still look white against rock formations at zoos and whatnot. What color is the skin?

[peachykeen]

Actually, it doesnt matter what color the bear's skin is. We see the color of something because it absorbs a certain wavelength of light in the visible region and reflects the rest of the light back, therefore causing us to see the color of the reflected light. Simply put, a dandelion would absorb blue light, and reflect back the yellow light. Because the polar bear's fur is clear, it therefore has nothing to absorb light and reflects back all colors of light, which means we see white!

[perion666]

White? I was thinking green... since it was running in circles...

[mathemagister]

lol!

[twittbrod]

Whoa. Very rarely do I encounter people who know that a polar bear's fur is indeed clear and that the properties of the hair reflect and refract light in such a way as to make it appear white, especially when surrounded by snow. However, the question does not ask what color is the bear's fur. It asks, what color is the bear? And generally speaking, despite the clear hair feature, the polar bear does indeed appear to be white in color in most any surroundings (except zoos where fungus turns the fur green - sad

Since it is a polar bear than wouldn’t the answer be clear not white because a Polar bear’s fur is in fact clear?

- You do not have to be faster than the bear, just fast than the slowest guy running from the bear

You could also make the argument that the bear is black. After all, we don't describe humans' color by out hair color, but rather our skin color.

[mathemagister]

I thought polar bear's skin is white and their fur is clear.

[Cernunnos]

I doubt very much this was made by the great man himself as he would have known that if you were stood at the North Pole then no matter which way you ran it would always be South.

[mathemagister]

I don't think it was either. As someone showed, this has been around for ages.

[FiOS-Dave]

Was this the true north pole or the magnetic north pole.
Pleas don't decline to answer...

Dave

[audioman8869]

Ive read thru the quotes, and "What color is the bear?" could be referring to any depth of the bear's "layers" (white/clear fur, black skin, pink muscle, ect.) so i say the bear's color (as seen with the naked eye) is white. And yes, a polar bear does actually have black skin, though not the same color as crayola black. If the hair was clear, it wouldnt reflect all colors of light, hence producing a "white" color, because clear doesnt reflect anything, it lets visible light pass thru.