All Questions
Tagged with refraction everyday-life
32
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What was the rainbow like object I saw in ice crystals this morning?
This morning, while driving to work, I saw a rainbow-colored pillar formed by ice crystals frozen out of furnace exhaust from chimneys. It was very broad - a bit wider than my (large) hand at arms ...
8
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Why do rainbows always appear to be far away from us?
We know that the single rainbow we see is actually a continuous cone of rainbow. If so, why don't we see that cone instead of a single, far-away rainbow?
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"fish appear to be 30% smaller because of the curvature of the tunnel"
I recently visited an aquarium in Malaysia and there was a sign saying that the exhibits in their main tank appear to be smaller by 30% especially when viewed through their tunnel (https://www.youtube....
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Is there a liquid for which the primary and secondary rainbows overlap for visible wavelengths?
This answer to the question Is there a zone where 'colour' overlaps between double rainbows? raises the possibility that, at suitable wavelengths, the primary and secondary rainbows can overlap, if ...
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Steam visible in mirror, but not directly
My bathroom sink has a mirror behind it. When I ran the hot water for some time, and some collected, I saw what looked like steam in the mirror. However, to my surprise, I did not see it when I looked ...
- 109
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Why is it easier to get sunburnt in the water? [duplicate]
I went today to the swimming pool and I remembered that when I was younger my mom used to tell me to be careful because you get sunburnt much more easily in the water than in the ground.
I never gave ...
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Why do I see better under water using swimming goggles? [duplicate]
I am myopic (I don't really know if this is relevant or not) and I usually swim without contact lenses. My vision is clearly better underwater when I am using swimming goggles.
I have tried to ...
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Why light rays gets scattered when it enters a translucent window pane?
Consider the light source is the light post, outside the window of my house (Pic 1). When the rays from the light post enters through the window pane which is translucent gets scattered and forms a ...
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Model of scattering in wet things
You know that clothes and some surfaces become darker when wet (covered in an earlier question: why wet is dark?), because of the disordered reflections or of the refractive index of water or ...
- 109
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Why can't we reach the ends of rainbow?
Rainbows are spectacular things. But I imagine why we can't reach to the ends of rainbows. Do rainbows have no ends ? If so, why can't we reach at them? If you go closer,they will go further. Why?
user36790
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Why isn't the sunset/sunrise rainbow-colored
When the sun is rising/setting, it goes through a phase where the light is bending from the atmosphere. I believe this image will explain much better than I ever could.
Now, if light goes through a ...
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Why don't fogbows appear on clouds?
As far as I know clouds are lot of small droplets condensed in air.
If droplets are large enough we see a rainbow. If they are small we see a fogbow.
Although the size of the droplets are big enough ...
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Why does the light at the bottom of the pool form this awesome pattern?
Take a look at the following picture:
Why does the light at the bottom of the water form this pattern? I have also seen the same phenomenon in all the swimming pools I've ever visited, of whatever ...
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Why does a mirage disappear as you approach it?
Related: why do mirages only appear on hot day?
The title says it all: why does a mirage disappear as you approach it? The related question does not answer this.
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Shape of the rainbow
I have watched Walter Lewin's lecture(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QVbE_tU2sA) which was about the rainbows. But there is still a question bothering me.
I understood the first part of the ...
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