2. Apparent depth: the depth that an object appears to be at
due to the refraction of light in a transparent medium
Air
Water
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
4. Apparent depth is why it’s not as easy to catch fish using your
hands
Air
Water
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
5. The “Flattened” Sun: When the Sun is near the horizon
during sunset, it appears to be oval in shape (flattened)
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
6. Air is more dense near the Earth’s surface than higher up in the atmosphere,
so when the Sun is close to the horizon, light from the bottom of the Sun is
refracted more than light from the top of the Sun.
Figure 5 pg 536 (Nelson)
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
7. Rainbows: White light that passes through a water droplet
undergoes “dispersion” (separation into its constituent
colours)
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
8. Light passing through a Prism also undergoes dispersion.
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
9. Each colour of light refracts differently because they all move
at slightly different speeds.
LONG
SHORT
INCREASINGWAVELENTGH
So each color has a
different angle of
refraction (R).
Refraction is based on the
wavelength of the light ray
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
10. This is why you can only
see a rainbow when the
sun is behind you
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
11. Shimmering on a lake:
Light rays travel from cool air
(slowly, because more dense)
into warmer air near the water
(faster, because less dense)
causing the light to refract
farther away from the normal.
Eventually, total internal
reflection occurs in the lowest
warm air layer (not in the
water), resulting in multiple
virtual images of the moon.
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
12. Mirage:
Hot air close to the surface
of the sand is less dense.
When this hot air meets
layers of denser, cooler air,
light rays get bent.
When incident light rays
pass the critical angle, total
internal reflection results.
PHENOMENA RELATED TO REFRACTION
