Question

Occurrence of the mirage effect in the desert is an example of
(A) Reflection
(B) Refraction
(C) Photoelectric effect
(D) Bending of heat

Answer 1

Hint: To answer this question we first understand the term given. Mirage is a phenomenon that is observed usually in the desert on a hot and humid day of summer. It acts as a mirror that shows inverted images of the object nearby.

Complete answer:
We know that the atmosphere is a layer of gases around the earth. It is known that it can act as several layers of air with different densities depending upon the altitude from the ground. As we increase the altitude the layer of air becomes rarer this is because of the temperature difference at a different altitude.
As we know from the law of refraction that when light passes through one medium to another it bends towards the normal or away from the medium. When the angle of the incidence matches the critical angle then the light is reflected back completely in the same medium. This phenomenon is known as total internal reflection and it is responsible for the formation of mirage.
During hot summer days the air near the earth becomes hot and light as a result it becomes rarer than the layer of air above them. As a result when the light of any object passes through that rarer medium to denser and when it attains a critical angle then there will be a total internal reflection, as a result, an inverted image of the object is observed on the surface of the sand.
Hence the occurrence of mirage is due to total internal reflection. Therefore the option (A) is the correct answer.

Note:
Mirage is considered as an illusion that acts as a mirror in the desert and above the sea due to which an inverted image of objects is observed mainly during hot summer. This phenomenon is also observed on roads which acts like water is slipped on the road when observed from far away.