Question

As light from a distant object travels through the air layers involved in mirage formation, how does the refractive index of those layers change?

Options

• It gradually increases.

• It gradually decreases.

• It remains constant throughout.

• It alternates between increasing and decreasing at every layer.

Answer 1

Light from the distant object travels through layers of air of gradually decreasing refractive index. The gradual change in refractive index causes the ray to bend continuously.