I have noticed that sometimes on a hot day, while travelling, I will see a water puddle on the road a little far away but when the car reaches there, there is no puddle or water.
I tried searching about this but couldn’t really understand why light changes its direction and we perceive it as a virtual image which looks like water.
I would really like to understand why this really happens.
Thanks!
In: 2
I’m surprised no one said it: what you’re seeing is called a ‘Mirage’.
You may have heard about people in the olden days being out in the desert dying of thirst thinking they’re heading toward water, but it was just a Mirage.
The effect is caused by a thin layer of air against a hot surface (asphalt, sand, etc) having a different “index of refraction” (speed of light in a transparent material) from the cooler air above it. Desert air is very dry, so there’s no moisture in the air to spread the heat evenly. so the air temperature up against the hot material changes sharply over a small distance, and the interface (boundary) between the cool air and hot air becomes a reflective surface.
The “puddle of water” appearance is just air acting like a mirror.
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