What causes that watery mirage on open road?

Question

What causes that watery mirage on open road?

Answer 1

Warm air is less dense than cool air, and the variation between the hot air at the surface of the road, and the denser cool air above it creates a gradient in the refractive index of the air. Light from the sky at a shallow angle to the road is refracted (bent) by the index gradient, making it appear as if the sky were reflected by the road's surface. The result looks like a pool of water on the road, since water also reflects the sky.

Answer 2

What our eye sees and mind initially interprets as water are actually light rays from the blue sky and clouds above and ahead of us refracted by strong changes in air density near the surface so that they appear to have come from the ground. The mirage forms when light rays pass through a relatively warm layer of air & are bent upward from their path.

Answer 3

heat coming off the road makes a distortian

B.

Answer 4

The heat.  That's why in some old movies, you'll see ppl crawling along the desert, desperate for shade and water and just on the horizon their minds see a pond or an oasis although it's just the heat rising off the sand.

Answer 5

It's actually a "mirage" and it's caused by the heat waves rising up from the road.

Answer 6

heat waves

Answer 7

Due to air being heated.

Answer 8

the sun

Answer 9

I always wondered that to... something about reflecting heat..

Answer 10

A mirage is caused when the heat of the sun produces enough energy and the heat reflects back off the open road, resulting a "watery " apperance as the suns rays bounce back off the road.

Answer 11

lack of nutrients and want and the want and need to believe so badly that water is close by.

Answer 12

total internal reflection of light,mirage is just an illusion prominent in deserts

Answer 13

The heat rising. You can see the same effect when you're grilling food outside.

Answer 14

Heat. Its called a mirage and occurs when light bends as it travels through the hot air. Astrological observatories deal with this phenomenon when they observe stars through the Earth's atmosphere. A hot atmosphere causes the image to distort and wave around.