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Chapter 30: Problem 2

Why does a spoon appear bent when it's in a glass of water?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The spoon appears bent in a glass of water due to refraction. This bending of light is due to it changing speed as it moves from the air into the water and back into the air, causing the light to bend and the spoon to appear in a different position than where it actually is.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the concept of refraction

Refraction is the bending of light as it passes from one transparent medium to another. This bending of light occurs because light travels at different speeds in different mediums. In this case, when light moves from air (less dense) to water (more dense), it slows down causing the light to bend or refract.
02

Explain why the spoon appears bent

When you look at the spoon through the water, you are seeing the light that has reflected off the spoon and then travelled from the water to your eyes. As this light travels from the water into the air, it speeds up and bends away from its original path. This bending of light causes the spoon to appear in a different position than where it actually is, hence the spoon appears bent.
03

Explain the principle of refraction using Snell's Law

Snell's law attempts to quantify this bending phenomenon. According to Snell's Law, which states that the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the velocity of light in the original medium to the velocity of light in the refracting medium. This can be represented as \(\sin{i}/\sin{r} = v1/v2\) where i is the angle of incidence, r is the angle of refraction, v1 is the speed of light in the original medium and v2 is the speed of light in the refracting medium. As light speeds up or slows down when it moves from one medium to another, it causes the light to bend and leads to refraction, causing the bent appearance of the spoon.

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