Consider a common mirage formed by superheated air immediately above a roadway.

Question

Consider a common mirage formed by superheated air immediately above a roadway. A truck driver whose eyes are 2.00 m above the road, where n = 1.000 293, looks forward. She perceives the illusion of a patch of water ahead on the road. The road appears wet only beyond a point on the road at which her line of sight makes an angle of 1.16° below the horizontal. Find the index of refraction of the air immediately above the road surface. (Treat this as a problem in total internal reflection. Give your answer to six significant figures.)

Explanation / Answer

nair = index of refraction of the air immediately above

n' = index of refraction of air below = 1.000293

i = angle of incidence = 90 - 1.16 = 88.84

r = angle of refraction = 90

using snell's law

n' Sini = nair Sinr

(1.000293) Sin88.84 = nair Sin90

nair= 1.000088

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