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An interesting property of light called refraction just took place. When light enters the water, it can't move as fast and it has to slow down slightly. It's kind of like how if you are walking, you can walk at a normal speed but if you walk in water, you can't walk quite as fast.

If light from the image enters the water straight, then the image looks normal - which was what you originally did when the pencil was straight up and down. If the light enters the water at an angle, then the change in speed between the open air and water causes the light beam to bend away from its original path. When the pencil was at an angle, the image was at a bigger angle in the water than in the air and made the pencil look like it was bent.

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15y ago

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What to put in a pencil pouch?

A pencil or pen


Why should the water be below the pencil line in chromatography?

because when we usually test for a liquid or anything soluble we put a drop of it on the pencil line, then when we put the chromatography paper or filter paper in water the water will get on the paper and start moving upwards here when the water will approach the liquid or solvent or die and then they will move with water throughout the filter or chromatography paper.


What makes a pencil write?

The pencil doe not write. It is the person that picks up the pencil that writes with the pencil. when the point of the pencil is put to a surface ( IE. a sheet of paper) to be written on the graphite tip being soft is worn down leaving a line on the surface of the paper.


Why there is a bend in thermometer?

The simple answer: light refract under water thus the image of the ruler is slightly warped due to this effect.The reason light refracts under water is the velocity of light (or any electromagnetic wave in fact) is slower when traveling through a denser medium (it reaches its fastest speed when in a vacuum). Since the light hits the different medium at an angle (or else it wouldn't refract), one side of the wave slows down, thus it bends towards the slower side, for instance imagine you are roller skating on the road, but you put one foot on the lawn, you immediately start turning towards the lawn since the grass slows one side of your body down, its pretty much the same thing with light, it bends toward the slower side.Refraction is modeled by Snell's Law:n1sin(theta1) = n2sin(theta2)where n is the index of refractiontheta is the angle of incidence(the angle measured from the 90 degree mark of the surface)a pencil in water looks bent because of refraction. when light enters a substance with a different density than the one it came out of, the light either slows down or speeds up. this makes the light appear bent. If there is a pencil in the water, it appears bent because the light is traveling at different speeds through water and air.


What makes a pole seem to bend when you put it in a glass of water?

The reason for the pole appearing bent when put inside a glass of water is refraction. When a ray of light travels through one medium to the other, it tends to bend or deviate from its original path. Thus a light ray in this case, travels from the air through water, and then again through air and reach the eyes. Thus, the light ray deviates from its original path causing this phenomenon.

Related Questions

What makes a pencil bend when put in water?

When a pencil is put in water, the water molecules are attracted to the pencil's surface due to adhesion. This attraction causes the water molecules to bond with the pencil molecules, changing the pencil's structure and making it appear bent when viewed through the water.


How does the appearance of the pencil depend on level the of water in the glass changes?

When a pencil is placed in a glass of water, the appearance of the pencil can change due to refraction. The water acts as a lens, bending the light as it passes from the air to the water and then back to the air. This refraction can make the pencil appear bent or broken when viewed from certain angles.


What is bending of beam?

Water will bend a beam of light. Try this put a stright pincil in a glass of water. The pencil is still stright but looks bent. The water is bending the beam of light.


Why do legs look funny when you look at the swimming pool?

Refraction. Take a clear glass, pour some water in it, and put in the glass a pencil. It looks like the pencil breaks.


When you put a pencil in a half filled glass of water why do it appear to be broken?

When light passes from air into water, it changes speed and direction due to the difference in density, causing the pencil to appear bent at the water's surface. This phenomenon is called refraction. Although the pencil isn't actually broken, the way light bends as it enters the water creates the illusion of a break due to the change in the medium.


When you put a pencil on a glass of water what will you observe?

You will observe a pencil on a glass of water. Unless you're not looking that way, in which case, you will observe whatever you happen to be looking at. Unless, you're blind, in which case you won't observe anything.


What metric would you use to find the area of a pencil?

put the pencil into a measuring jug filled with water to 100g the when you put the pencil in you see how much it has gone up . if it has gone up to 150g the pencil will the 50g in area. because you put in 100g of water


Why does a pencil seem crooked when its put in water?

A pencil is seem to be croaked when put in water because,REFRACTIONoccurs.REFRACTION is a property of light which can be defined as this=the speed of light is different in different medium, it is slow in dense medium.It is fastest in vaccum.This shows that the light reaches faster in air and little slow in water this is the reason that the pencil seems little croaked in water


When you put a pencil in the water what does it look like?

When a pencil is placed in water, it appears to bend or break at the surface of the water due to refraction. This effect is caused by light rays bending as they pass from the water to the air, creating an optical illusion.


What is difraction?

when something looks bent when you put a straw in a cup of water and it looks bent that is difraction


What does a refracted image look like?

A Refracted image is like an illusion. Which fools the brain e.g. You see a pencil but the pencil has split in two parts.Demonstration:You will need: Glass, Pen or Pencil and WaterSteps:1. Put the glass on a table,2. Fill the glass to about 3/4 quarters of water,3. Put the Pen or Pencil in the glass of water,4. See what happens to the pencil.See, it seems to have split.


Why does a straw look bent when you put it into water?

When light moves from air to water, it changes speed and direction, causing the light rays to bend. This bending of light creates an optical illusion that makes the portion of the straw underwater appear bent. This effect is called refraction.