Consider a common mirage that is formed by superheated air immediately above the

Question

Consider a common mirage that is formed by superheated air immediately above the surface of a road. On a very hot summer day, a truck driver sees the illusion of a patch of water on the road ahead of her (have you ever seen this?). She is actually seeing light from the blue sky that is undergoing Total Internal Reflection off the boundary between the lower temperature air that is several feet off the ground and the superheated air that is near the road's surface. In essence, this means that she is actually seeing the SKY when she looks at the reflected light! Since the sky is generally blue (like water!), this creates the illusion of a "patch of water" on the surface of the road. Assume that the truck driver's eyes are 2.1 m above the road, where the index of refraction of the lower temperature air is n = 1.1. Suppose that we imagine drawing a line from her eyes to the illusion of a "patch of water" on the road (the point where the light is reflecting). This is called her "Line of Sight". If this line makes a DOWNWARD angle of 4 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction, find the index of refraction (no units) of the superheated air that is just above the surface of the road (at a height of ~ 0 m).

Explanation / Answer

n2*Sin(90)= 1.1*Sin(86)

n2= 1.0973

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