Science Questions

Why do roads look reflective?

While driving on a long stretch of highway I notice that when one looks ahead, very far down the road and on curves (left, right, up and down) the surface of the road becomes almost reflective. I’ve noticed this under both sunny and cloudy conditions but I’m wondering why it is. Jason

Dave: This is called a mirage. On a hot day the air above the road gets hotter than the air above that. When air gets hot it expands and becomes less dense. The less dense the air is the faster light goes through it. The light is going slower high up than it is really close to the road. The light then refracts as is comes down from the bright sky. It bends upwards and goes into your eye. What you’re seeing is an image of the sky in front of you.

Chris: When you have toast cooking in your toaster and you look at the air above it it’s all twisty and shimmery.

Dave: It’s the same phenomenon. You get hot air in swirly patterns above the toaster that bends the light which produces a distorted image behind.

November 2007