Why can you not see through fog when it’s ahead of you but you can once you’re in it?
In: Physics
Ok, let’s do an experiment.
Take a piece of paper and a magic marker. Write a number between 0-9 that is 7” tall on the paper.
Take that paper, pin it to your wall. Then get your kitchen colander and hang it in front of the paper.
Walk 15 feet away and look back at the wall. The paper is completely obscured. You have no chance to read that paper behind it.
Now walk back to the wall, collect your colander, go back to your previous position and hold the colander up to your nose.
Now you can see through the holes and clearly make out the writing on the paper!
The reason is the obscuring object is closer to your eyes so the gaps between them make up a larger part of your field of vision. The further the object is away, the less it takes up your field of vision. This is also true of the gaps.
It is trivial to see through 5 feet of fog, because the gaps between the water droplets in the air are relatively close to your eyes. Visibility has to do with the thickness of the fog, not the placement.
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