DENJIRO: Have you ever seen a phenomenon like this when it's hot out? It looks like there's a puddle of water up ahead. This is a type of mirage known as an "inferior mirage." You can observe it if you look at the road from a low perspective when there's strong sunlight and no wind. Let's attempt to recreate an inferior mirage. I have here a two-meter tube that's been painted black. Think of this as an asphalt road. Over there, I have a model of the distant scenery. In summer, the asphalt gets hot from the sunlight, so we're going to heat up our road with gas burners.
Let's take a look at the tube from a low perspective. This is an inferior mirage. Here, what looks like a puddle is actually the sky in the distance. When the asphalt gets heated by sunlight, the air above the road's surface gets heated up. The temperature difference between the air by the ground and the air above it causes the refractive index to differ.
Let's perform an experiment on what happens when there's a difference in the refractive index. I have a tank with water inside. I'm going to put saltwater on the bottom of the tank. Now there's fresh water on top, which has a low refractive index, and saltwater on the bottom, which has a high refractive index. Let me bring my face up to the tank. Since there's a difference in the refractive index, my face gets distorted like this. Let me shine a laser at the tank, where the fresh water and saltwater meet. The light bends right at the boundary. This is the same as what happens on a road in summer except it's upside down. The heated air has a low refractive index, and the air above that has a high refractive index, so light bends upward. As a result, it appears as though the sky in the distance is right above the road.
I hope energy will bring you all happiness. Our magic word is "Happy Energy!"
21 окт 2024
