It was Indian physicist Sir CV Raman who unveiled the mystery behind the deep blue colour of the sea. His pioneering work on the scattering of light, known as the Raman effect, earned him the prestigious award.
Raman's journey towards this monumental discovery began during his return voyage from London to Bombay aboard the SS Narkunda.
Intrigued by the vibrant blue hue of the Mediterranean Sea, he questioned the existing explanation by Lord Rayleigh that the sea's colour was merely a reflection of the sky.
Determined to unravel the truth, Raman embarked on an extensive research journey upon reaching India.Contrary to popular belief at the time, Raman conclusively demonstrated that the sea's colour resulted from the scattering of sunlight by water molecules.
This phenomenon, now known as the Raman effect, revealed that when light encounters particles smaller than its wavelength, it scatters in various directions.
A small fraction of this scattered light undergoes a change in wavelength due to energy transfer to a molecule, elevating its energy level. The Raman effect is a rare occurrence, with only one in a million scattered light particles exhibiting a change in wavelength.
This discovery provided compelling evidence for the atomic character of light energy, suggesting that light can neither be emitted nor absorbed by a material other than in definite amounts of energy or "light quanta".