Which wave property can best explain the apparent bending of a pencil when its dipped in to a glass of water?
Did they provide you with a list of choices of properties?
reflection
The wave property that can best explain the apparent bending of a pencil when it is dipped into a glass of water is called refraction. Refraction is the bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another due to a change in their speed. In this case, when light waves pass from air into water, they slow down and change direction, causing the pencil to appear bent. This phenomenon occurs because light waves travel at different speeds in different mediums, and the change in speed causes a change in direction.
The wave property that best explains the apparent bending of a pencil when it is dipped into a glass of water is known as refraction.
Refraction occurs when a wave, such as light or sound, passes from one medium to another and changes direction. When a light wave passes from air (one medium) into water (another medium), its speed slows down and its direction changes.
To understand this phenomenon, you can use Snell's Law, which mathematically describes how light waves refract when traveling between two different media. The formula is:
n₁ * sin(θ₁) = n₂ * sin(θ₂)
where:
- n₁ is the refractive index of the initial medium (air)
- n₂ is the refractive index of the final medium (water)
- θ₁ is the angle of incidence, which is the angle between the incoming light ray and the normal (perpendicular) to the water's surface
- θ₂ is the angle of refraction, which is the angle between the refracted light ray and the normal to the water's surface
In the case of the pencil in water, the light waves from the pencil undergo refraction at the air-water interface. The light waves slow down as they enter water, causing them to change direction according to Snell's Law. This change in direction makes the pencil appear bent or broken when looking at it from outside the water.
In summary, the refraction of light waves at the air-water interface is the wave property that best explains the apparent bending of a pencil when it is dipped into a glass of water.