In case of a mirage, do we only see the image that is on the ground or can we see the real object also?
In case of a mirage, do we only see the image that is on the ground or can we see the real object also?
A mirage is defined as an optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky.We see both the object and the mirage.
We know refractive index of a material varies with its density, thus rarer layer of air has the lowest refractive index . Thus when a ray of light from any object (like a tree ) passes through these layers, because of change in refractive index rays suffer refraction. Since in this case rays have to pass from denser to rarer medium, they deviate away from the normal. After passing through a lot of layers successively, when the ray reaches an incident angle beyond the critical angle for the medium. It suffers total internal reflection and traces back its path from rarer to denser layers, thus moving towards the normal. When these rays fall in the eyes of a traveler in desert he sees an inverted image on the ground. Because of the shimmering of the image thus formed, he may think it were a lake. This is mirage.
A mirage is defined as an optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky.We see both the object and the mirage.
We know refractive index of a material varies with its density, thus rarer layer of air has the lowest refractive index . Thus when a ray of light from any object (like a tree ) passes through these layers, because of change in refractive index rays suffer refraction. Since in this case rays have to pass from denser to rarer medium, they deviate away from the normal. After passing through a lot of layers successively, when the ray reaches an incident angle beyond the critical angle for the medium. It suffers total internal reflection and traces back its path from rarer to denser layers, thus moving towards the normal. When these rays fall in the eyes of a traveler in desert he sees an inverted image on the ground. Because of the shimmering of the image thus formed, he may think it were a lake. This is mirage.
