Question

A pencil dipped in water obliquely appears bent at the surface of water
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Answer 1

Answer:

Here the two media are air and water. Water has higher refractive index than air which causes refraction. Due to the change in medium the speed of light decreases. The refraction causes difference in speed of light the stick kept in water appears to be bent or broken.

Answer 2

Answer:

A pencil dipped in water obliquely appears bent at the surface of the water because of light refraction.

Explanation:

Refraction is defined as the change in direction of the wave when it passes from one medium to another.

Refraction is the same process that is demonstrated by this experiment with the pencil. Refraction of light occurs when something gets in the way of light waves.

• In this experiment, the light first travels from the air to the water, because there is a change in the density of the medium, the light travels faster in the air as compared to the water, water is comparatively dense and it slows down the light waves and changes their direction. When the light waves come out of the water, they speed up again because of which the pencil obliquely appears to be broken or bent at the surface of the water.
• Light refraction occurs because the light is traveling through different densities of materials.