You don’t have to be in the desert to see a mirage. Just look down a long road on a hot summer day. Most likely, you’ll see what looks like water or puddles on the road.
As you approach this slick strip of road, however, it dries up. What happened? You just experienced a mirage. This mirage was caused by the bending of light rays. What appeared as water was actually the blue sky. The heated atmosphere produced a type of lens that bent the light rays. When you looked down the road, the wavy sky appeared on the ground instead of up above.
Things Required:
Pencil
Clear tall drinking glass
Water
Directions:
Fill a drinking glass halfway with water. Place a pencil in the glass. Describe the appearance of the pencil. Is it straight or does it appeal to bend or break at the spot where it enters the water?
Slowly, fill the glass with water. What happens to the “break” as the water level rises?
This Is What Happens:
The glass and water act as a light-bending lens. Your eyes detect the bent light rays but assume that they travelled on a straight path. Your brain “projects” where a straight path had come from. Mistakenly, it places the submerged pencil in a position where it’s not.
In contrast, there is no confusion above the surface of the water. This light travelled without bending. Your brain correctly projects where this part of the pencil was. The “break” arises from the two different projections.
