All Questions
Tagged with refraction everyday-life
32
questions
51
votes
2
answers
32k
views
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 ...
- 1,563
27
votes
5
answers
7k
views
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 ...
- 1,083
18
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are the edges of the shadow so bright?
Today I noticed something while playing with my specs (having diverging lenses).
Have a look at it :
This is the shadow of my specs on the wall in sunlight. The region of the lens appears darker and ...
- 8,230
15
votes
1
answer
11k
views
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 ...
- 2,780
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Are rainbows three dimensional? If so, what determines their depth? [duplicate]
I am wondering whether rainbows are three dimensional, and if so, what determine their depth? How to calculate the depth of a rainbow, given its radius?
From what I understand, all rainbows are ...
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Where does the "water" come from in a mirage?
First, I would like to clarify that I know why a mirage is formed, what I want to know is why is it that when a mirage is formed it appears that a pool of water is present.
Like for a palm tree in a ...
- 113
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How does a Magic Mirror work?
I recently found out about the Magic Mirror. Both sides of the mirror look the same, and it appears to be dark, if looked at closely, like sunglasses (but lighter in colour) but looks like a normal ...
- 702
10
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why do mirages only appear on hot days?
A previous question asked why the road sometimes appears wet on hot days.
The reason is that when there's a temperature gradient in the air, it causes a gradient in the index of refraction, causing ...
- 53.2k
8
votes
1
answer
504
views
Skylight reflection shows birefringence patterns
I noticed that the skylight where I work looked white to me, but its reflection from the tiles below showed a colorful pattern. See the images below, and also a video that shows this effect from ...
- 12.5k
8
votes
3
answers
654
views
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?
7
votes
4
answers
3k
views
What's at the end of a rainbow?
I recently saw a video where someone saw the end of a rainbow as it went into a lake. How is this even possible considering the fact that rainbows have no ends and are circular in nature?
Edit: I ...
6
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How does sun light after it has passed window's pane still heat me up?
I believe it is so because most of photons' energy has successfully passed the glass. But is it so? And how can I roughly estimate part of light's energy which will pass obstacles like glass?
And how ...
- 310
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 573
5
votes
1
answer
686
views
What causes this weird shape through frosted glass? [closed]
I was looking at my frosted window and found that the light behind it from the neighbors house looked like this:
Behind the frosted glass is simply an ordinary CFL bulb. The frosting pattern on the ...
- 3,187
4
votes
3
answers
229
views
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 ...
- 8,150