Question

Explain what happens to a light wave that hits the surface of a pool.

Answer 1

A light wave that hits the surface of a pool gets refracted and gives us an apparent image of the surface of the pool, following the concepts of refraction.

Explanation:

Let’s recall the concept of refraction when a light wave passes from medium of rarer to denser. There is a change in the speed of light while travelling from medium of rarer to denser.

There can be a change in the direction as well. This property is known as “Refraction” and the best example to see refraction is watching the surface of a clean pond, lake or pool.

When the light travels from a rarer medium (air) to a denser medium (water), it changes its angle of direction and gets refracted and hit to our eye lenses. With this, we see the surface of the pool at a changed angle and it seems to be a bit shallow than its original depth.