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Why does a spoon or pencil placed in a glass of water appear to be bent to broken?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Light always travles in the the path with the shortest possible time ,from A to B say.
Light travles slower in water than in air.
Now, take this analogy (thanks to Richard Feynman):
Imagine you are a life guard and you want to save a drowning man further along the beach. You obviously want to get there in the shortest time. Should you run to the shore, and swim to him all in a straight diagonal line? Or should you travel all the way to him on the beach and then swim perpendicularlly towards him? Remeber that you are slower in water than on the beach (just like the light).
The answer is, that the shortest route is somewhere in between these two, and so you should go in a slightly bent path to go in the shortest time.
Since you are like the light, in that you are slower in one medium than the other in this analogy, then the light will also bend as it enters water, hence the distortion of a spoon in a glass of lemonade.
Really hope this helps.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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Why does this pencil appear broken at the boundary between the air and water as view from the side of a glass of water?
due to refraction If the pencil is vertical, then it shouldn't look broken.
Why do a pencil appear to be bent or broken when seen through the side of the glass?
Because of refraction of light
Why does a pencil appear broken at the boundery between air nd water of the glass and water as viewed at the side of a glass of water?
Your eye is interpreting the path taken by the light that reflects off the pencil.
Does a pencil remain the same when it is dipped in a glass of water?
Physically, the pencil remains a straight pencil. Optically, due to the refraction effect of water, the pencil will appear to be bent.
Why does a straw appear broken as it sits in a glass of water?
Refraction bends the light, making the straw appear to be broken.
Why does this pencil appear broken at the boundary between the air and water as view from the side of a glass of water?
due to refraction If the pencil is vertical, then it shouldn't look broken.
Why do a pencil appear to be bent or broken when seen through the side of the glass?
Because of refraction of light
What is rare faction examples?
One example of refraction of light is a rainbow and a broken pencil when placed in a glass of water.
Why does a pencil appear broken at the boundery between air nd water of the glass and water as viewed at the side of a glass of water?
Your eye is interpreting the path taken by the light that reflects off the pencil.
Why does a straw appear broken as it sits in a glass of water?
Refraction bends the light, making the straw appear to be broken.
Does a pencil remain the same when it is dipped in a glass of water?
Physically, the pencil remains a straight pencil. Optically, due to the refraction effect of water, the pencil will appear to be bent.
Why does the spoon appear to be broken in a glass of water?
b
Why should broken glass be placed in a special bin?
because it is too hard to sort by hand at the recycling center and broken glass is also dangerous. If broken glass is mixed with unbroken glass it is just sent to the landfill.
A hard transparent substance that is easily broken?
Such a material is GLASS.
Why would a pencil appear to be bent in half if half of it was in glass and the other half was in diamond?
ricus
Why would a pencil appear to be bent if half of it was embedded in diamond and the other half embedded in glass?
ricus
How does water affect the viewer's image of an object that is above the water's surface?
Any light rays crossing the air-water border will be refracted, that is, bent. So, objects above the water will appear displaced. In other words, they will appear to be where they are not. You can see this phenomenon by placing a pencil in a glass of water. The pencil appears broken and discontinuous. This optical illusion is due to refraction.
