What causes a swimming pool to appear shallower than its real depth?
Question
What causes a swimming pool to appear shallower than its real depth?
Solution
The phenomenon that causes a swimming pool to appear shallower than its actual depth is called refraction. Here's a step-by-step explanation:
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Light travels at different speeds in different mediums. In air, light travels faster than it does in water.
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When light rays from the bottom of the pool travel upwards towards the surface of the water, they move from a denser medium (water) to a less dense medium (air).
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According to the laws of refraction, this causes the light rays to bend away from the normal line (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface at the point of incidence).
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This bending of light rays makes the bottom of the pool appear closer to the surface than it actually is. Hence, the pool appears shallower than its real depth.
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Our brain interprets this refracted light and creates an image based on where it thinks the light is coming from, not where it actually originated. This is why we see the pool as being less deep than it truly is.
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