why is water reflective?
In: Physics
Light travels through water at a much slower speed than through air. This means light bends when it travels from water into air, or from air into water. Because of this, even though water is transparent, you can still see it because of how it distorts light. The same thing is true of glass. If a material transmits light in the same way as air, then it would be completely invisible.
Anyway, because light bends when it moves between air and water, some light also bounces off the surface of the water if it strikes the water at a very narrow angle. This is why it is easy to see deep into water if you look straight down, but if you look towards the horizon, the water becomes more reflective. The further away you look, the narrower the angle, and the more reflective the water becomes. The same is true of glass windows. Look at them from the side, and its like a mirror. Stand straight in front of them, and you can see right through.
It also helps both reflection and transparency if the surface is very smooth. Because of surface tension, water will naturally settle into a very smooth surface, unless its disturbed by some outside force. Smooth surfaces tend to not “refract” or scatter light, which cases them to appear opaque.
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