WHAT IS A

MIRAGE?
Presented by: Emilia Ronafel
Tatad
Before that, let us recall
what Refraction is.
If light passes through a medium, it
travels in a straight line. However,
as the light travels from one
medium to a second medium, the
light path bends. Refraction is
taking place.
 Since the light has crossed the
boundary between the two media,
it begins to pass in a straight line.
Only now is the direction of the line
distinct from that of the previous
medium. As we see an object, the
light from that object changes the
media on the way to your eye, a
visual distortion is likely to occur.
The discussion on Refraction has
presumed that the medium is a
uniform medium.

Although not every medium is a

uniform medium, and the fact that air
can also form a non-uniform medium
contributes to an interesting refraction
phenomenon- the creation of mirages.
MIRAGE is an optical phenomenon that gives rise to
the appearance of water which results from the
refraction of light through a non-uniform medium.
It occurs when the ground is very hot
and the air cold. The hot earth warms up
a layer of air right above the ground. It is
refracted as the light passes through the
cool air and through the hot air layer.
 The brain deems the direction of the image
to be the location from which light rays
appear to come. This image location is the
location where the reflecting or the
refracted rays converge.

The eye and the brain believe the light

passes in a straight line and then extends
the incoming light rays backward until they
intersect.
To put it bluntly, our brain does
not see the picture as a bending
light from the sky. Instead, our
brain assumes the light must
have come from somewhere on
the surface.
HOW DOES MIRAGE
EXACTLY HAPPEN?
 If the driver stares down at the road at a very
low angle, the light from the points above the
road traces a curved path to the driver's eye.
The light that passes down into this less optically dense air starts to
intensify. While there is no distinct boundary between the two media,
there is a change in the speed of a light wave. As predicted, the shift of
speed is followed by a change in direction. If there were a distinct
boundary between the two media, this light ray would be bent away
from the normal. In order for this light ray to turn away from the
normal, the ray must continue to bend more parallel to the road and
then bend upwards towards the colder air.
And with that, the person sitting in a
car will see an optical illusion of
puddle located above the roadway.
 REFERENCES:
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/refrn/Less
on-4/Mirages

http://www.planet-science.com/categories/under-11s/our-
world/2012/01/what-is-a-mirage.aspx

https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2010/03/highway-mirage.html

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/refrn/u14l1b.cfm

https://youtu.be/S9CztTYuGqg