A person standing waist-deep in a swimming pool appears to have short legs because of light?

innogson

1 year ago

Real-Life Observation:
When someone is waist-deep in a swimming pool, their legs appear shorter or bent — almost like they’re broken or squished.

Why does this happen?
It’s all about what light does when it moves from one medium to another:

From water (denser) → to air (less dense)

Light bends because it changes speed when going from one material to another. That bending is called:

Refraction
Definition:
Refraction is the bending of light when it passes from one medium (like water) to another (like air).

Real-World Example:
Your legs are actually deeper in the water.

But when light rays from your legs come out of the water, they bend at the surface.

This bending makes your legs appear closer to the surface = shorter.