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The Physics Teacher -- September 2010 -- Volume 48, Issue 6, pp. 372

Simulation of the Inferior Mirage

Mario Branca

University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

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A mirage can occur when a continuous variation in the refractive index of the air causes light rays to follow a curved path. As a result, the image we see is displaced from the location of the object.1 If the image appears higher in the air than the object, it is called a “superior” mirage, while if it appears lower it is called an “inferior” mirage.2 The most common example of an inferior mirage is when, on a hot day, a stretch of dry road off in the distance appears to be wet (see Fig. 1). Many lab activities have been described that simulate the formation of superior mirages. In these demonstrations light beams curve downward as they pass through a nonuni‐form fluid.3–6 Much less common are laboratory demonstrations of upward‐curving light rays of the kind responsible for inferior mirages. This paper describes a simple version of such a demonstration.

© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

atmospheric optics, light refraction, physics education, refractive index, student experiments

PACS

  • 01.50.My

    Demonstration experiments and apparatus

  • 42.25.Gy

    Edge and boundary effects; reflection and refraction

  • 51.70.+f

    Optical and dielectric properties

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3479711

  1. Paul G. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, 9th ed. (Addison-Wesley, 2002), p. 543 doi:10.1119/1.2353594PHTEAH000044000007000460000001.
  2. Alan Giambattista, Betty McCarthy Richardson, and Robert C. Richardson, College Physics (McGraw-Hill, 2004), pp. 844–845.
  3. Carl H. Tape, “Aquarium, computer, and Alaska range mirages,”Phys. Teach. 38, 308–311 (May 2000).
  4. W. M. Strouse, “Bouncing light beam,” Am. J. Phys. 40, 913–914 (June 1972).
  5. Se-yuen Mak, “Showing the light path of a mirage,” Phys. Teach. 31, 476–477 (Nov. 1993).
  6. P. R. Barker, P. R. M. Crofts, and M. Gal, “A superior `superior' mirage,” Am. J. Phys. 57, 953–954 (Oct. 1989).
  7. Our container is a rectangular Plexiglas tank 26 cm long, 6 cm high, and 1 cm wide.
  8. With our particular tank, 25 ml of each liquid is an appropriate amount.
  9. A bit of nondairy creamer also works well.
  10. Lauren Richey, Bailey Stewart, and Justin Peatross, “Creating and analyzing a mirage,” Phys. Teach. 44, 460–464 (Oct. 2006).
  11. K. Tennakone, “A mirage from a laser,” Am. J. Phys. 51, 270–271 (March 1983).


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