Mirage | What is Mirage- Knudge Factory

TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION:

Mirage is an illusion in which it appears as if there is water present on the ground. On hot summer days, the land heats the air nearer to it. So the air near the land is more heat than the air above the land. Thus, it forms a rarer media below and cold upper layer forms denser media above. Now when the light from the sun travels from denser media to rarer media, it bends more an more upto critical angle. Critical angle is the angle beyond which lights get reflected. This phenomenon is called total internal reflection. When this reflected light reaches our eyes, our eyes traces it backward as a straight line and hence the reflection of the blue sky appears on the ground and our brain thinks that there is a water and thus causing a mirage.