Glass Houses

When light passes from one medium to another, usually not all the light makes it through. Some of the light is reflected backwards, and some is transmitted through. (Think about when it's dark outside and you are inside a lit room and see your reflection in a window.) Usually the light rays are bent by an amount dependent on what is called the index of refraction of the media. That's why your legs look funny when you're swimming in a pool.

That's also why fish look bigger swimming around in their tank.

I found out in class on Friday that the fish see us exactly as we see the fish. That is to say that the same exact thing happens to light moving from the tank to the air as to the light passing into the tank from the outside. That's pretty cool.



I did a pretty thorough cleaning of my aquarium this weekend, and I moved it into my room while I was at it. It was pretty sad, having only Morning Breakfast Time interaction with the little guys. Now they're on my desk, so I can stare at them instead of doing my work. I forgot how entertaining they can be!

I think that soon I'll be able to tell them apart again. Maybe they'll get more permanent names than "Fish #4".