What do u mean by mirages ?

Answer 1

u c water - in long distance- but there is no water actuly

actuly its the shadow of heat- but the reflection looks like flowing water

Answer 2

A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon, in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes from the Latin mirare, meaning 'to appear, to seem'. This is the same root as for mirror. Like a mirror, a mirage shows images of things which are elsewhere. The principal physical cause of a mirage, however, is refraction and not reflection.

A mirage is not an optical illusion. It is a real phenomenon, and one can take photographs of it. The interpretation of the image, however, is up to the fantasy of the human mind.

Answer 3

mirage is an optical illusion which is caused by total internal reflection.
for eg. i n desert u see pond of water which is little distance far from u but when u reach to it than it disappears. Actually when u see it from a certain distance than u see the image of portion of the sky which is reflected by the atmoshphere.
the point is how it is reflected?
the answer is - near the surface of the desert it is very hot so the wind flowing near the surface is warm & wind flowing little above the surface is cold so there is difference in the medium through which light coming from the sky passes. so the refraction occurs but in special condion where entering angle of light is greater than the critical angle. so reflection occurs instead of refraction .
u will better understand with the help of figure so try it
good luck.

Answer 4

Mirage is an optical illusion due to which we see a layer of water at a short distance ahead of us in a desert or a road on a very hot day,when actually there is no water at all.It is caused by total internal reflection of light caused by atmospheric refraction.

Answer 5

Glass lens, water, and air of different densities all have an effect on the speed of light traveling through them. The speed of light is altered when traveling through mediums of different density. This change in speed causes the light's path to bend if the line of approach is at an angle.

Heat rising from a hot surface heats the nearby air. The lighter density of the hot air alters the speed of light as it passes through it, causing some refraction (bending).

Its similar to a mirror except the angle of deflection/refraction is less than 100%, so we end up seeing a distorted image of what lies beyond the air instead of a reflection. And since the air is moving, the distorted image shimmers like water.

Answer 6

On a hot day the air and the moisture near surface become hotter than the air just above.These two layers act like two different mediums.Due to refraction or bending of light rays we are able to see the sky or other distant objects, as if reflected.

Answer 7

Mirages are observed in deserts due to the phenomenon of total reflecton of light.

Answer 8

An optical illusion in which atmospheric refraction by a layer of hot air distorts or inverts reflections of distant objects.
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Answer 9

an optical effect dat is sometimes seen at sea, in desert or over a hot pavement, that may have d appearance of pool of wateror a mirror in which the distant objects r seen inverted, that is caused by bending of or reflection of rays of light by a layer of heated air of varying density.

Answer 10

Wikipedia explains it better than I do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage