Why does sun appears to be pot shape when it sets near sea?

Answer 1

-- A ray of light on a trip through the atmosphere almost always curves slightly
downward on its way.

-- The thicker the atmosphere is, the more the light curves downward through it.

-- Since you 'see' an object in the direction from which its light reaches you,
and the light reaching you has always curved slightly downward on its way to
you, a distant object always appears to be slightly higher than it actually is.

-- Near sunset, when the sun is low down on the horizon, light from the bottom
of the sun's rim must reach you through atmosphere that is slightly thicker than
the air through which light from the top of the sun's rim travels to you.

-- So the light from the bottom of the sun is bent downward more than the light
from the top of the sun.

-- So the bottom of the sun appears to you to be raised from its actual direction
a little more than the top of the sun does.

-- Which causes the complete rim of the sun to appear squashed, too wide for
its height, too short for its width, egg-shaped, elliptical, "pot shape", etc.

-- The sea has nothing to do with it. Only that you have a much better chance of
still seeing the sun when it is low down and preparing to set into the sea, than you
have when there are buildings, trees, or hills in the way.